The end of the school year is at hand, and with it come the celebrations for many students here on the Sunshine Coast.

Grad week concluded Thursday as students from the Alternative School celebrated their program success and highlights.

Earlier in the week, students from Pender Harbour Secondary, Chatelech Secondary and Elphinstone Secondary schools strutted down the cat walks in their cap and gown or finest tux and beautiful gowns. (Be sure to check out our special grad feature in the July 13 edition.)

Last Friday, we were on hand to celebrate as School District No. 46 (SD46) kicked off its post-season celebrations by recognizing 10 students in the ACE-It program.

ACE-IT (Accelerated Credit Enrolment in Industry Training) offers the ability for students to begin work experience and training in a certified trade while still attending high school in SD46.

Overseen by the Industry Trades Authority, students complete their work under the supervision of a Red Seal certified tradesperson/teacher in partnership with Vancouver Island University.

This is a fantastic program and one SD46 should be very proud of.

The students involved received amazing hands-on experience working at the Habitat for Humanity Sunshine Coast Village project. And Habitat reaped the rewards by having these students work on their housing project — much needed and much appreciated work, as Habitat continues to work towards providing more affordable housing options on the Coast.

And this isn’t the first partnership between SD46 and Habitat. The first three housing projects Habitat completed were due in no small part to previous ACE-IT students and SD46.

This is an amazing time for the graduating class of 2012. Many will be taking the summer off to travel and explore before jumping into their next life chapter at post-secondary institutions across the province and across the country.

Some will take time off from school to continue to work, travel and explore while others may chose to stay here on the Coast and possibly give back to their community.

One ACE-IT grad, while being recognized last Friday, expressed a desire to continue working and volunteering at the Habitat site. And we guess others may follow in his path.

Our hats our off to all our great grads for their hard work, dedication to their studies and for completing this chapter in their lives.

Cheers to many more accomplishments. The world awaits you.