Graduation Valedictorian on Campobello Island sees the good in both a small and larger community

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Derwin Gowan
Telegraph-Journal

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CAMPOBELLO ISLAND - This island community will not likely hold Thomas Mitchell once he finishes his education.

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Thomas Mitchell, valedictorian on Campobello Island, plans to further his studies in Fredericton.

"I'm not sure but I plan to move to Toronto," the valedictorian for the Campobello Island Consolidated School Class of 2009 said. "I will probably come back to visit but I don't want to work from here."

Mitchell excelled in school, and attributes it to a tried and tested remedy - hard work.

"I just worked hard, kept my grades up, pushed myself," he said. "I'm strong in maths and sciences."

He also did well with his English courses, even if the subject did not particularly suit him. "Not weak. I don't like English, I'm not weak in it," he said.

This summer he will work on maintenance at Edith Lank Camp on Campobello, run by the Wilson's Beach Baptist Church. "I have worked there the past two years," he said.

He will leave for university in September. "I am going to UNB in Fredericton and taking chemical engineering," he said, following a plan he decided on two years ago. "I just love to do math, and I love all the sciences I do."

In his last semester in high school he took enriched calculus, entrepreneurship, a co-op math program, physics and a food course.

He found time for sports, too. "I used to play basketball and badminton a lot," he said. He played badminton this past year, "but before the tournament I wrecked my ankle."

Mitchell's father Thomas fishes for a living. His mother Suzanne teaches Grade 1 at the school. "She taught me in kindergarten."

His younger sister Simone just finished Grade 9 at the same school. He has two older sisters living away - Angela Wright, the oldest, on Prince Edward Island, and Nicole Mitchell in Toronto.

Campobello Island has its good points, he says. "I like that it's such a close community. I like that you know who's living next to you - you always know who your neighbour is," Mitchell said.

However, "It's so small we don't have anything here." The island has one grocery store and two small convenience stores.

The Charlotte County Credit Union will close the only place to do banking June 26, and Campobello Islanders now need a passport to buy gasoline in Lubec, Maine.

The community hopes to convince the provincial government to provide year-round ferry service to the New Brunswick mainland, providing an alternative to the bridge to Lubec.

But he will likely trade knowing his neighbours for greater opportunity.

A fond memory for him is the 10-day senior class trip to Europe over March Break, and the effort to raise money for the adventure. He planned to mention this in the valedictory. "I'm going to talk about what we've done in the past, what we've accomplished."