The end of this school year marks a significant milestone for La Void du Nord school in Thompson as it will celebrate its first-ever graduates.
Nevada Long, who has attended the French-language Division scolaire franco-manitobaine (DSFM) school since midway through Grade 5, and Anna Holmen, who started there a year later, in Grade 6, will be the first two students to complete all of their high school credits at the school, which began in an unused part of Burntwood School before moving to its newly constructed campus in 2016.
Holmen started at La Voie Du Nord because her mother convinced her it would be beneficial to got to a full-French school instead of just taking French immersion. Long had been having trouble at her previous school and her parents thought a fresh start might help her out.
Though many students from La Voie du Nord switch to R.D. Parker Collegiate after finishing Grade 8, Holmen and Long still didn’t expect they would become the school’s first graduates.
'We were both a little surprised that we were the first grads because there were so many high school students before us who were older and I always assumed it was going to be them who were the first grads but they all moved away before they graduated,” Holmen says.
Being the first comes with some perks.
“Being the first graduates, we’re able to really start the traditions that are going to continue through the school years, that are going to be happening every year at future grads,” says Long. “It’s crazy for me to think about.”
La Voie du Nord principal Daniel Couture said the two first graduates will benefit from the experience of being a grad class of two.
“Anna and Nevada have lived many rich student leadership experiences and this will undoubtedly have a huge impact on their careers as post-secondary students and as professionals in their respective areas of interest,” he said.
Long will continue being educated in French when she attends the University of St. Boniface to begin a bachelor of science degree in biochemistry and microbiology next year. She also has plans to go to medical school in Ottawa after that. Holmen isn’t sure how she will maintain her French skills while attending the University of Toronto in the fall to study film production.
“I’m a little worried about that. I think I’m going to try to find other French speakers and practise it with them hopefully,” she said.
