On Wednesday, 153 graduates celebrated the completion of their high school education at the Weyburn Comprehensive School's 2007 graduation ceremony.

"Leaving here you may or may not be successful, but you will have that spirit and that passion to succeed," said Jordan Rederburg in his role as the Valedictorian.

The ceremony was held in the school gym following a punch reception in the courtyard, and later a banquet, dance and Chem-free After-Grad were held at the Curling Rink.

Rederburg began his speech by pretending to speak French because "we have to do it in both official languages." When writing his speech, he was getting pressure from his classmates to either make it humourous or emotional and serious. To this extent, he decided to do what Sir Wilfred Laurier would do and "try and make everyone happy."

"I thought he has to have done something right and maybe I can be on the $5 bill," Rederburg said.

Looking back to elementary school, he recalled how one only had to worry about reading, writing and mathematics. As you move into junior high, you get more responsibilities.

In high school, according to Rederburg in his speech, students are given even more responsibilities and they learn to be accountable for their actions.

"We learned how to have success. You learned that if you don't work hard enough you can fail," Rederburg said.

Rederburg added that the time they had together is precious and that they will never have the same connection with over 100 people in the same room. He described the Class of 2007 as "one big family."

"Everyone knows everyone. I can look around the room and can see someone I like or I have associated myself with," he said.

He added that they got a great education at the Weyburn Comprehensive School and should go away proud of where they are from.

"This is one of the best schools in Canada. We have little to no violence and how many schools can say that?" Rederburg said to a huge ovation.

He ended his speech with the words of inventor Thomas Edison. "We did not fail 937 times to make the incandescent light bulb, we found 937 ways how not to make the incandescent light bulb."

The valedictorian speech was the last item on the agenda during the ceremony. It started with the graduates being presented by Wade Oberg and Jesse Shupe and the scrolls were presented by principal Ken Larson.

Grad coordinators Jordan Irwin, Voula Siourounis and Sarah Snelling asked everyone to stand for the singing of O Canada after the scroll presentation, and the invocation was then given by Rev. Gerry Bauche.

Following this was the principal's message from Larson. "Perhaps it is fitting to see what gifted and prominent people throughout history would say about the Class of 2007," he began.

Larson went on to quote Dr. Seuss, Mark Twain, Newton D. Baker and John A. Finley on thoughts about work, education and how to take direction in one's life. He also thought they should be proud of where they are from.

In his speech, Larson also recognized staff members Glen Pegg, Andrea Kerr, Melissa Olson and Bonnie McTaggart, who will not be returning next year. A special presentation of the Block W Award was given to Wade Oberg, who has moved over to the Weyburn Junior High to become principal.

"As you (the graduates) leave us this year, every grad will take something from this school, so some of our staff will be leaving you as well," Larson said.

Larson ended his address by saying, "You came from a great school, now go do great things."

Giving the tribute to the parents was Georgia Siourounis and Katelyn Struthers. "Most of us didn't show enough appreciation and we want to say 'thank you' for all of those times that we should have," stated Siourounis.

"Within a matter of time we will get a full understanding and appreciation for the person we have become because of our parents," added Struthers.

Their speech focused on how much their parents have influenced them throughout their lives, such as the principle, "don't give up no matter what the struggle is."

Giving the reply was Mel Hoffman who said, "We are really glad to see that our efforts have not gone unnoticed."

Hoffman continued "High school is something you will complete, but life is a journey so you better hang on."

It was good to see that the school has extracurricular activities such as athletics, drama and music, said Hoffman. The school has produced many talented people through those programs.

Hoffman said that the graduates should continue with the journey that is life because they are the future. "According to David Suzuki and Al Gore, my generation ruined the world," he joked.

He added that when the graduates first went to elementary school they became quite smart, but by junior high "you got a little bit dumber." Now that they have graduated from high school, Hoffman feels that they have smartened up again.

To finish his speech, Hoffman have the graduates one last piece of advice. "Stay in school, don't do drugs and always listen to your parents."

Following that was the tribute to the teachers by Kendra McCallum. She started by reminiscing about their teachers in elementary school who had their hands full teaching young children.

"Now that you think about it, elementary school teachers were very kind and patient people," McCallum said.

Then they moved on to junior high where "the only difference in junior high was instead of being sent to time-out, you were sent to detention."

Once they got to high school, according the McCallum, the teachers still wanted to see the students succeed, but they were given more freedom to make their own decision.

McCallum then went through a list of her teachers at the Comp and what the class will remember about them.

"In our opinion, they weren't just our teachers, they were our councillors, doctors and now they are our friends," she said.

Giving the reply on behalf of the teachers was Kelly Glaspey. He said that looking around the room there are two types of graduates, those who didn't even know whether they would make it to graduation and those who will go on to post-secondary education.

For those who weren't sure whether they would make it, Glaspey said it took a lot of strong will to buckle down and graduate. To the second group, he felt no matter where they go, they will succeed. Either way, he believes it is the students that makes the Comp a great school.

"If you come to this place during a down time, like summer, it is a lonely and eerie place. It is the people in the building that give it character," Glaspey said.

He finished by thanking the SRC for all of the events that they put on this year. "Those little things make this a great place to work."

Following the tribute to the teachers, the graduation choir performed "Like an Eagle" and "For Good," which was followed by the valedictorian speech. Once everything was said and done, the graduates threw their caps in the air to celebrate the memories and their time together.