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SASKATOONEXPRESS - July 10-16, 2017 - Page 1
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Saskatoonʼs REAL Community Newspaper
COUPON EXPIRES JULY 17, 2017
Volume 16, Issue 27, Week of July 10, 2017
Long road leads to academic, athletic success for Preston Lachance
Cam Hutchinson Saskatoon Express reston Lachance smiled when he said being the valedictorian for graduating aboriginal students in the city was “just another day at the office.” He said it is like boxing. If you are prepared, you have nothing to fear. “It was an amazing experience,” he said. “I dedicated myself to writing something inspiring as well as challenging.” It was a proud moment for Lachance and for those who know him. He is the first of six siblings to graduate from high school and he will be attending the University of Saskatchewan this fall. Lachance has overcome challenges in his life. He spent 15 years in foster care after being taken from his mother when he was three years old. He credits a friend of his mother’s — Sylvia Goyer — for her role in his upbringing. “She’s been an absolutely great influence in my life. She taught me how to take care of myself in pretty much every aspect.” Lachance said Goyer came into his life when a foster home couldn’t be found for him and he was going to be sent to his home reserve, the Big River First Nation. “She knew Aaron there was no life at the rez, so AS071012
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Preston Lachance overcame challenges to graduate from high school, become a boxer and be accepted into university. (Photo by Sandy Hutchinson). she told my mom she would take of us until she got on her feet.” Now here he was speaking in front of 175 grads, representing 16 Saskatoon schools. Lachance had his most prized possession — an eagle feather — with him. A man named Craig Sand gave it to him. Lachance, who was 10 then, had met Sand’s son, also named Craig, in school. Lachance laughs when he talks about meeting Craig Jr. in Grade 2.
“We fought each other, is how we became friends. From there it was, ‘Man you’re pretty good.’” One night Lachance opened up to the Sands. “I don’t tell many people my story as I was growing up. I kept that to myself. But I told him and I told his dad because we are so close. His dad accepted me as his own. We went through a smudge and spiritually he adopted me. He gave me a feather and
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that meant a lot to me.” Lachance, who graduated from Oskayak High School, cherishes the feather. “It’s protected me; it’s kept me safe,” he said. Craig Sand Sr. also introduced Lachance to his First Nations culture. “Growing up in foster care I was deprived of it, so he took me to my first three sweats.” (Continued on page 7)