Brains and brawn – St. Timothy High School’s class of 2022 valedictorian, who was also selected as the school’s female athlete of the year, has both in spades.
In her last year of high school, Makenna Myatt says she finally got to experience what she and her peers – a tight-knit graduating class of just 36 students – had been missing over the last two COVID-impacted years.
"We're kind of a special grade as COVID was a thing all throughout high school,” said Myatt. "So, this was our last year and it was the only year that we got to see what a high-school experience with no COVID would've been like."
Many of the Grade 12s at St. Tim’s didn’t anticipate being able to have a traditional graduation experience this year, she added.
"It was extra special for all of us, because I don't think any of us really anticipated having a full-on grad,” said Myatt. "Afterwards, at the banquet, because we're such a small grad class, we actually all danced together. There wasn't one grad who wasn't on the dance floor."
Earlier in the day, on May 27, the graduating class – surrounded by their family, friends and teachers – gathered at St. Mary’s Parish in Cochrane for their convocation ceremony, where Myatt delivered her valedictory speech.
It was always Myatt’s goal to have the highest academic achievement among her peers, but she was still taken aback when she learned of her accomplishment.
“It was a surprise,” she said of being selected as valedictorian. “We had some really good contestants and some people who wrote really good speeches, which is something we had to do.”
In her address to peers, parents and teachers, the valedictorian spoke of her class’s ability to overcome adversity while learning in a global pandemic, but also to having perspective in the challenges they faced.
“Transitioning to online learning for the fourth time becomes much more manageable when we see girls from Afghanistan being refused an education, while people from Ukraine fight for their freedom, or closer to home, while water in Indigenous communities continues to run dirty,” said Myatt. “These are opportunities to reflect on our own resilience as we bear witness to the struggles around us.”
The valedictorian did not just talk the talk but also walked the walk in her Grade 12 year, as she spent several months contributing to the St. Timothy’s social justice club. She was also a cyber mentor during the pandemic through the University of Calgary’s women in engineering committee.
After the summer break, Myatt plans to study engineering at the University of Alberta and make the transition from running cross-country for St. Tim's and the Cochrane Endurance Project, to running for the university’s Golden Bears long-distance team.
Since becoming a student at St. Timothy’s in Grade 7, Myatt has not only run for the school's cross-country team, but also competed in track competitions and, this year, played for the basketball team.
In a first for a Cochrane high-school team, she and her fellow graduate, Holly Moores, helped lead St. Tim’s to win the cross-country provincial championship in October.
Moores and Myatt placed 11th and 28th overall for the senior girls in a field of 66 competitors. With combined scores from teammates Caden Jones, Brendan Maguire and Nick Hooper’s races, the team finished first.
Myatt asserted in her speech that much of her and her classmates’ overall success would not be possible without the coaches and staff who supported them over the years.
“Whether we put a provincial banner on the wall or never won a game ... your time and energy means a lot,” she said.
