South Central High School valedictorian will miss strong connections

South Central High School valedictorian will miss the strong connection she has with teachers and classmates.

By Samantha Johnson
Prairie Rose Public Schools Content Writer

Payton Duffield is the valedictorian this year for South Central High School. Since entering high school, her focus has been on achieving high grades. It was always her hope to be valedictorian, but she didn’t know how close the race was and was surprised to find out in early April she had succeeded.

“I was pretty excited. I’ve been working toward it for a long time, so it was nice to know and kind of relieving,” said Duffield.

Payton Duffield, Valedictorian for South Central High School, is looking forward to living and working in Oyen once she completes her Bachelor of Nursing program. SUBMITTED PHOTO

Accepted into the Bachelor of Nursing program, Duffield will be attending Medicine Hat College in September. A nursing career path appealed to Duffield after she started taking a Healthcare Aide dual-credit program at South Central, a partnership between Prairie Rose Public Schools and Northern Lakes College.

“I’m almost done that. I have three courses left and I should be done by this summer. I’ve been working at the long-term care here in Oyen since last June with some other classmates. Being there really helped me realize nursing is what I want to do,” explained Duffield.

Her family moved to Oyen from Big Stone when Duffield was younger and she has completed all her schooling at Oyen Public School and South Central High School. Duffield is somewhat nervous about going to college because she has a close relationship with her parents and is worried about getting homesick.

However, she has some family living in Medicine Hat and said her parents drive to the city about once a week and thinks it will make the transition easier. Once she graduates with a Bachelor of Nursing, Duffield is looking forward to returning to Oyen.

“Nursing is a job I could do in Oyen,” said Duffield, “They are always looking for nurses so it’s a pathway to working in my rural community. The first two years will be at Medicine Hat College, then I switch to being a University of Calgary student, but I can still take those courses at the college. I’m not much for big cities.”

Over the summer, Duffield plans to work as much as possible at the long-term care facility. She is currently a casual staff member and primarily works evenings and weekends, although she is expecting her hours to increase during the summer when full-time staff take time off. 

When asked what she finds most rewarding about the job, Duffield said, “being able to help. I know I’m helping and I think the experience has made me a better person.”

The highlight of her high school years is achieving valedictorian. “I will miss all my friends and the teachers here. We have such good connections with the teachers. It helps that half of them are parents of my friends, so we see them outside of school. It will be hard to adjust to that, when I go from seeing my friends for the past twelve years each day to not seeing them as often. A couple are also attending Medicine Hat College in other programs, so that is nice to know.”