The Town of Blackfalds, Alberta, council approved a new $1,000 graduation award on March 10, 2026, to celebrate the community’s first-ever high school graduating class. The award will be given to a student from the inaugural graduating class of Iron Ridge Secondary Campus during their ceremony this spring.
This is a historic moment for the town because these students will be the first to ever graduate from a high school located right in the community. The school, which is part of Wolf Creek Public Schools, opened in September 2024 to serve the town’s growing population. Blackfalds has grown quickly in recent years and reached an estimated population of more than 12,200 people in 2025.
The graduation ceremony will take place on June 26, 2026. School representatives met with council members in February to ask for the town’s support in recognizing the significance of this first group of local graduates.
To set the award amount, staff looked at similar programs in nearby towns where student scholarships range from $250 to $10,000. They decided that $1,000 was a fair amount that sits in the middle of what other local communities offer.
The money for this year’s award will come from the town’s general savings fund since it was not included in the original budget. Council has also asked staff to create a formal policy to decide if this award will be given out every year to future graduates.
