I'm pretty positive this is my last post about Jaclyn and high school

I thought these were well behind me, but then I got a call yesterday informing me that Jaclyn had been awarded the Governor General's Academic Medal for her graduating class. They had to explain to me what that was - I hadn't heard of it. (I guess that means I didn't get this award from my high school.) Jaclyn receives this medal, as well as a certificate, and her name is engraved on a plaque in Ottawa.

Since Jaclyn's gone, the blog is her first look at the award:

Lord Dufferin, Canada’s third Governor General after Confederation, created the Academic Medals in 1873 to encourage academic excellence across the nation. Over the years, they have become the most prestigious award that students in Canadian schools can receive.

For more than 125 years, the Governor General’s Academic Medals have recognized the outstanding scholastic achievements of students in Canada. They are awarded to the student graduating with the highest average from a high school, as well as from approved college or university programs. Pierre Trudeau, Tommy Douglas, Kim Campbell, Robert Bourassa, Robert Stanfield and Gabrielle Roy are just some of the more than 50 000 people who have received the Governor General’s Academic Medal as the start of a life of accomplishment.

(It's a little anti-climactic to get a high school award after you're gone to college. This award is presented late, long after the high school awards ceremony, because it is calculated after all June provincial diploma marks are in. So the pomp and circumstance surrounding it was slightly lame: Steven got called down to the office to pick it up and bring it home.)

Congratulations, Jaclyn. You'll have to look yourself up the next time you are in our nation's capital!