The Champlain Saint-Lambert Continuing Education 2026 Graduation Ceremony took place on June 4 in the College auditorium where an audience of some 400 people celebrated the achievement of the 94 students and RAC candidates of the 2025-2026 class that were present.

After an inspiring opening speech by Mark Wallace, the Director of Continuing Education at Champlain, and a vibrant testimony from the Special Care Counselling graduate Adedoyin Adejumoke Oluwo (pictured), the participants in the 2025-2026 cohort took to the stage one by one in recognition of their achievements.

Presentation of awards

Three prizes were awarded throughout the evening. The Tony Maciocia award, in memory of a former Recognition of Acquired Competencies (RAC) content specialist, is given each year to a Special Care Counselling candidate. This year’s recipient was Julie Murray.

The second award for the evening was the Perseverance Award, given on behalf of the Champlain Professionals Association. Anna Shedov, also a Special Care Counselling graduate, received this award.

The final award is the Celebration of Learning Award, given on behalf of the Champlain Support Staff Union. The recipient was a RAC candidate of the Computer Science Technology program, Ameen Brereton.

After the presentation of the awards, Donald Shewan, the constituent college director, gave a moving closing speech and invited all the children present to join him on stage to cheer their parents’ success.

Throughout the day, inspiring testimonials from graduating students were projected on the College’s electronic bulletin boards. Some responses to the question “What was the most rewarding part of returning to school?” are shared below:

“Rediscovering my confidence and realizing how much I had grown throughout the program.’’ –Shazad Kobir, Transportation and Logistics.

“It made me into someone who now believes I want to be a lifelong learner.’’ –Sarra Bougie, Autism Spectrum Disorder.

“Proving to myself that at my age, I could juggle work, my family life, and everything else in between. I received my diploma by mail two days ago, and I keep looking at it, and can’t wait to hang it up in our office. I sometimes can’t believe I did it.’’ -Kathleen Nadeau, Special Care Counselling.

Congratulations to all the graduates!