The J.L. Crowe class of 2023 will hold its convocation ceremony on Friday at 5 p.m. at the Cominco Arena. Jesse Graves will deliver the valedictory address. We caught up with him last week.
How is the valedictorian chosen at J.L. Crowe?
You have to be qualified based on a number of conditions. You have to have a good academic standing, you have to have shown excellence in a certain area, and you have to get some signatures from people around the school. You need three teacher endorsements and 10 student ones. Once you’ve received those, you go to the principal and they either let you run or don’t.
Why were you interested?
I’ve always had a deep appreciation for my school. I really enjoy school and like it to make it the best I possibly can. I’m involved with grad council and leadership and want to give back. I also believe I can deliver a speech that could empower people to find success in their future.
Once you submitted your nomination, what happened?
You have to draft a campaign speech, and then all the candidates allowed to run present a two-minute wow-the-crowd please-elect me speech. Everybody in your grad class and the student body votes, and the candidate with the most votes gets to be valedictorian.
How many candidates this year?
Four. And they were all really good. Everybody delivered a good speech. It just happens that I was chosen.
How do you feel about that?
Really good. I’m super happy to get the opportunity. All of the candidates this year would have done an outstanding job, but I’m very grateful to the teachers and students for the opportunity to do this and hope to deliver a great speech.
How much effort have you put into your speech? Is it already written or are you still working on it?
It’s mostly written. I’ve got a pretty good draft going. Still a couple of things I’d like to tidy up but overall I’m pretty happy with it. I’m not solving world hunger here, so I have to remember to keep it light, keep it fun. I’m really happy with how it’s turning out.
You don’t have to give the whole speech away, but what’s one of the themes you’re going to touch on?
Reflecting on the past to help us with the future.
COVID threw you a curveball during some of your key years. What was that like for you?
It was difficult for everybody of course. At J.L. Crowe we transitioned to a different schedule. Our day went from four classes to two originally when COVID happened. There was a lot of time to sit around and it felt like classes took too long. But then when we transitioned back once there were fewer cases and some of the restrictions started to lift, we got thrown back into the four-block day and that was quite chaotic. There was a lot of adapting to be done but I’m happy with the way our school turned out. We’ve definitely been resilient.
You don’t feel that you’re at a disadvantage or that you lost anything?
Everyone was at a disadvantage over COVID. It really affected almost everybody globally. At Crowe I feel like we bounced back really well and retained a lot of our school spirit, so I’m happy with that.
What’s next for you?
This September I’ll be attending UBC Okanagan’s engineering program. I’m really excited to see what’s out there and find new opportunities for growth.
Did you do all of your schooling in Trail?
Yes, I’ve lived in Warfield my whole life. It’s a wonderful area and I’m super happy, super blessed to be from here.
