Rather than wearing fancy gowns and suits to their open-air graduation, the Grade 12 graduates at Philopateer Christian College in Mississauga have decided to save the money they would have spent and donate it to a good cause.
“Through this and other fundraising efforts, the students set a goal to raise $10,000 to be donated to a school in Egypt for children with ‘exceptionality’ through the Anba Abraam Charity,” says Phoebe Wasfy, Principal of Philopateer Christian College. “The students and school families have already surpassed the initial goal! They have raised almost $23,500 and it is only mid-June. The goal has been increased to $50,000. I have told the students that if they raise $50,000, they can dunk me in water. This spurred on the action!”
The graduates will have an open-air graduation ceremony in the school parking lot on July 12th at 4 p.m. After many months of online learning and following the “Stay-At-Home” order, Principal Wasfy says the students deserve a special send off.
“Our grads deserve a proper graduation ceremony, and they are going to get one!” she states. “We have postponed the event until July 12th to be able to have a full ceremony outdoors in our school parking lot. Our 57 grads will be sitting up front, spaced apart, and their families will have designated seats with balloons carrying their graduating son or daughter’s name. We have eight international students, and a few may be coming to the graduation. The event will be aired live on Facebook and recorded for those who wouldn’t be able to join us.”
Students will receive their high school diplomas along with a special gift. “Mississauga News is helping us to create a keepsake for each student that looks like the front page of the newspaper filled with stories about the grad. It will look like they made it on the front page of the newspaper!”
“If the plan goes well and in accordance with the current COVID-19 restrictions, after the families leave, the students will enjoy a special meal together, followed by games, an ice cream truck and fireworks,” explains Principal Wasfy.
“We will make our graduation ceremony as celebratory as possible. This has been a difficult time, but our kids worked hard and proved their resilience. Every single one of our grads is off to one of the universities across the globe in programs such as pharmacy, engineering, dentistry, medicine and more. Most of these students have been with us since kindergarten so I feel like a proud school mom sending them off. It also makes me proud to know they will carry the school’s name with them as they go forward and make a difference in the world.”
Philopateer Christian College is a private school located at 6341 Mississauga Road, offering classes from kindergarten to grade 12. As this year marks the school’s 21st anniversary, for the second year in a row, PCC has won the First Place Diamond Award for Best Private School in Mississauga in the Mississauga News Readers’ Choice Awards.
by Laurie Wallace-Lynch
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