This past Saturday, the graduating class of Drumheller Valley Secondary School (DVSS) gathered at the Badlands Amphitheatre to celebrate their graduation.
It was another beautiful day and according to DVSS Principal Dana Yemen, it went very well. “It turned out to be an exceptionally beautiful day. We were in and out of the Badlands Amphitheatre in under two hours, and we are so grateful to the Badlands Amphitheatre for allowing us to use that facility. It really is a highlight for our graduation. We are so grateful as well for all of our sponsors and our community members who came to support the families and the graduating students in the class of 2025. It was fantastic to see everybody out.”
A great part of the graduation ceremonies is the financial support from the community for the graduating students and Yemen is always appreciative of the support. “At DVSS, we have always said and promoted ‘it takes a community to raise a child’, and we see that again and again every year at graduation. This year, our community stepped up and gave over $80,000 in scholarships and bursaries. We just can’t thank the community enough for the support that we get.”
For those that attended the Grand March at the Badlands Community Facility on Saturday night, they would have noticed a significant layout change with the stage and seating. Overall, Yemen has had positive comments about the change. “I took a big risk this year as my new role as the Principal and decided to change the layout of the grand march. Although we did have a few minor hookups, I think overall the sound and sightlines were way better and we had a great evening celebrating the graduates.”
As Yemen mentioned, this was her first year as Principal of DVSS and she appreciates all the support during year one. “This role is truly just part of a team. We have such an amazing staff at DVSS all around. I couldn’t do it without them. It’s been a fantastic year.” Yemen did include former Principal Curtis Lapierre in the graduation ceremony, where he provided the walkthrough for the grads, a job that he used to ask Yemen to do when she was Associate Principal.
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