Great Grads: Creative ways to celebrate in Port Coquitlam
Posted June 9, 2020 7:16 pm.
Last Updated June 12, 2020 12:06 pm.
PORT COQUITLAM (NEWS 1130) — With COVID-19 preventing most of the usual grad celebrations and activities, one Grade 12 class in the Lower Mainland is working with the community to turn a potentially disappointing time into a positive experience.
“It’s been sad, but there’s also happy moments,” Jayden Bawden. “We’re getting some stuff out of it we worked really hard for,” she says.
Bawden is on the grad committee for Riverside Secondary in Port Coquitlam. After getting over the initial disappointment of typical celebrations being cancelled, the graduating class decided to use the money they had raised to do some good and leave a legacy of their own.
The grads donated hundreds of dollars to good causes locally, they also petitioned Mayor Brad West to declare next week “Grad Week,” which he was more than happy to get behind.
Bawden says the mayor is a Riverside grad and was excited about the idea.
“So that helped us a little bit. He was on board and he went along with all of our legacy ideas, which was really awesome too.”
June 15 to 21 is now official Riverside Grad Week.
The grad class is also behind a province-wide cheer for grads on June 20 at 20:20. They’ll be clapping for 13 minutes, or one minute for year they’ve been at school.
