Claire Holt is one of two McCoy seniors to earn the title of valedictorian this year.--SUBMITTED PHOTO
lthomson@medicinehatnews.com
Claire Holt is one of two Valedictorians tying for the position to represent the graduating class of 2020-2021 at Monsignor McCoy High School.
Much of Holt’s high school years have been spent excelling in basketball, volleyball and track, three sports that kept her busy throughout each school year.
“I also like to extend my participation in sports to the outside community,” said Holt. “So I have volunteered at St. Francis Sports Academy where I can bring my enthusiasm and experience for sports, and help a younger group of athletes, help foster that excitement for sports.”
Basketball coach Janice Laing says Holt is the first girl on her senior team to make valedictorian in her 15 years of coaching at McCoy.
“I am so proud of her,” said Laing. “It’s a pretty amazing accomplishment to balance everything she does and be good at everything she does. It’s so awesome to see kids take what they learn on the court, in a sport or in an extra-curricular opportunity and apply it. That teamwork, discipline, commitment and hard work. Everything you learn in sports can transfer into the classroom and into life.”
Holt expressed deep appreciation for the high school’s community spirit and of her teachers who taught her throughout her schooling.
“I think that all the teachers genuinely want to make you better,” Holt said. “They always want to give you their 100% attention, 100% effort and they do that for every single student because they want to see everyone succeed, so I think that’s what I appreciate the most about the entire community at McCoy.”
Laing spoke about how consistently impressed she was with Holt throughout her high school career, that she saw her chasing her goal to be valedictorian as well as putting in the effort to be a great teammate, student, older sister and school community member.
“The great thing about Claire is she was never afraid of the big moments; she was never afraid to write the test, she was never afraid to take the shot or to defend the best player, she’s just that kind of kid,” Laing explained. “She just seizes the opportunity to help everybody and to display her skills.”
Despite a difficult and tumultuous last year of high school due to COVID and all the restrictions brought with it, Holt explained she wanted to focus on the positive.
“We don’t need to remember what COVID took away, we need to remember what we were able to deal with and the good things that we can take away,” Holt said. “And honestly, other than it being far from ideal, I think that looking back on it we are going to be thankful for what we were able to do with the time we had together and I think it honestly made us into stronger people. We also have a better view of the world. It has forced us to see that this is not just something that affects us, it affects the whole world. And I think it’s opened everyone’s eyes up to the community at large and beyond.”
Holt believes “it is this perseverance and resilience and strength that the grad class has shown, despite super unconventional circumstances, that is more important than the math and the physics and the chemistry that we’re going to learn, those are real life skills that are going to carry us in life. If you can learn how to be yourself, make your path in life, that is going to get you really far.”
Holt will attend the University of Calgary this fall, in the Honours Biomedical Science program. She hopes to one day complete medical school.
