Skip to content

Mature high school grad

At age 63, Lydia Dinsmore-Yeatman will be the oldest student wearing a cap and gown at Ponoka Outreach School’s graduation ceremony today.
A01-OlderHighSchoolGrad
Ponoka’s Lydia Yeatman

At age 63, Lydia Dinsmore-Yeatman will be the oldest student wearing a cap and gown at Ponoka Outreach School’s graduation ceremony today.

Dinsmore-Yeatman left school at age 13, after finishing Grade 8, to help out her family, who came to Canada from Germany when she was nine.

Three years ago, she decided to finish what she started.

“I wanted to prove to myself I could still do it. It didn’t matter what my age was,” the senior graduate said on Monday.

The retired oil rig cook said earning her diploma gives her a wonderful feeling of accomplishment.

“You can hold your head up high and say: I did this.”

The Ponoka woman did one year of upgrading at NorQuest College in Wetaskiwin before switching to Ponoka Outreach School.

She said outreach teachers provide more than an education. They encourage and support their students.

“The school had a lot of faith in me. I love the school.”

Along with her diploma, Dinsmore-Yeatman will receive the Perseverance and Dedication Award.

Principal Scott Lewis, who called Dinsmore-Yeatman his hero, said the award says it all.

Lewis, who was also her social studies teacher, said Dinsmore-Yeatman was an inspiration to outreach staff.

“It’s been very rejuvenating for us. She’s given us way more than we’ve given her,” Lewis said.

There are many challenges, reading, and class work to complete for someone who is returning to school after decades.

Dinsmore-Yeatman, who has two children and four grandchildren, is graduating with about 30 students.

“She’s extremely rare. She’s the true student who’s getting an education for its own sake,” Lewis said.

Most outreach graduates are school age, along with some adults in their 20s or 30s looking to upgrade to get more education for a new career, he said.

About 300 people will be celebrating with graduates at Kinsmen Hall in Ponoka, where the ceremony and dinner will be held.

Dinsmore-Yeatman, who only spoke German when her family first arrived in Ontario, said her favourite class was English at the outreach school.

In Canada, she had to repeat a few grades to learn English, but caught up quickly. After leaving school, she eventually headed west.

“I worked on the oil rigs for 32 years and never had much education.”

While she loved the work, expressing her creativity by cooking up new and different recipes, she wondered what life could have been like with more schooling.

“(Ponoka Outreach School) opened my eyes to a lot.”

szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com