This year's valedictorian for Bert Church High School is Jessie Schmidt.

Bert Church High Schools Graduation Ceremony was held last Thursday, May 25.

Schmidt talked about the very moment she was named the 2023 valedictorian.

"If I'm being honest, they called me in last in the selection process. I thought I hadn't gotten it and I went in there fully prepared for that, but I was actually really shocked. I was super excited, it's been my dream all of high school."

The selection process for the valedictorian was narrowed down to five students, the top one per cent of academic students in the school.

"There were multiple rounds of the selection process. In the first round, we had to fill out all of our extracurriculars and what we do to contribute to the school and to the community. From there, they chose the top four."

After cracking the top four Schmidt stated she then had to prepare a two-minute speech and then was later selected valedictorian.

"I've been very involved in sports ever since I was little, in school, I played on the senior varsity volleyball team."

Schmidt also mentioned she helped out with volunteer work around the school.

Outside of school, she has a couple more sports on the go.

"I played competitive ringette as well as travel softball. I played on Team Canada for a tournament one time with softball. I'm also on Team Alberta for the Indigenous Games coming up this summer."

When it came to graduation day, Schmidt was very nervous, but she was able to get the job done.

"Just embrace your mistakes and not cop out of certain situations, just because there's a possibility of missing out."

While having an admission scholarship to the University of Western Ontario, she will be studying political science.

"I'm hoping to get my undergrad and then I want to continue on to law school to become a lawyer."

Her dream job is to become a sports lawyer or sport agents. 

"My entire high school career has been so enjoyable."

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