Eagle Butte grads will miss high school, but ready for next adventure

Posted on June 15, 2023 by Ryan Dahlman

By Anna Smith
Commentator/Courier

Regardless of where life is going to take them, Eagle Butte High School Valedictorian Jenna Krause will always look back fondly on her graduating class and the many, many memories made there.

Krause was born and raised in Redcliff, and went up through the three schools that serve that community, before finally landing in the melting pot that was Eagle Butte High School. The experience had been a bit of a transition, said Krause.

“We have so many people from all over the place. Like you have kids who come from Seven Persons, Irvine, Redcliff, and then all of us are kind of grouped together,” said Krause. “So coming into that when we reached Grade 10, it’s a weird experience of like, you’re such a small percentage of everybody else that you’re coming in to meet, but everybody’s super welcoming and the like. I don’t know. It’s been a unique three years, especially with COVID.”

Krause lost her Grade 9 year to the pandemic, and with it, a lot of the social transition that came with that final year before high school. 

Going from Parkside Junior High School to somewhere as busy and unique as Eagle Butte had been a challenge, said Krause, but she feels that she’s more than ready for what the world has to offer.

“It’s not just like […] they’ve taught the curriculum. They’ve prepared us for diploma exams. But it’s also the other lessons that we’ve learned from just everyday class of random life lessons in my first period English class, to tips on how to get through university and all the things that you’re going to have to do next year in my science classes, and all of those things that are not in the curriculum, but are so important, and that the teachers go out of their way to teach us about,” said Krause.

Krause herself is planning to pack her things and move into big city life as she pursues her degree in Engineering at the University of Calgary this fall; she’s a little nervous, but she’s also excited for this next stage. Not just for herself, but for her peers, no matter where it takes them.

“In my speech at our graduation in May, I talked a lot about the transition of having to go on to whatever we’re doing after high school, we have a lot of different people; some are just going to go work after high school, some are going to university, we have such a wide variety of what people are doing,” said Krause. “And I kind of want all my grads to know that all of those are good options. Like, all of them should be very proud of what they’ve done so far.”

When she’s not at school, Krause enjoys playing piano and riding horses, the former of which she’s used extensively to help out her school and community, which may have something to do with the scholarship that’s waiting for her.

“It’s the Seymour Schulich Community Service Award. So I am getting $65,000 over three years for my university, which I’m pretty excited about. It’s gonna help a ton with student loans. So I’m excited about that,” said Krause. She suspects that her work playing for things such as Remembrance Day, the school musical ELF, and various other events may have been the contributing factor in helping her land this award.

Like the upcoming life change, Krause said that she feels that the reality of the situation hasn’t quite hit yet, but she’s sure when it does, she’ll be ready for what’s to come.