Award winning singer/songwriter Gordie Sampson will be Cape Breton’s only 2020 high school graduate who can brag he’s won a Grammy, four Junos and multiple ECMAs!
Neither will any other grad be able to say they’ve co-written songs that have been recorded by the Country Music industry big hitters like Carrie Underwood, Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton.
But the 48-year-old Big Pond native can now say he’s Riverview High School’s only Grammy-winning graduate.
A self-taught musician whose musical training came from his mother Flo, Gordie started playing in bands when he was 15. As his music interest grew, his motivation for school diminished.
He says It was just a case of not applying himself to school, the music had kind of just kicked in pretty hard by then and school couldn’t compete.
Thirty years later, thanks to the course recovery program offered by the Cape Breton Regional-Victoria Centre for Education, Gordie Sampson was able to write, film and edit a short video to make up the two credits he was missing for his high school diploma.
He said he’s “honoured” to be getting his diploma 30 years after he left school. It’s something he’s always wanted to complete but didn’t get the chance. Gordie’s in Cheticamp now where he and his family are quarantining for 14 days after arriving from the U.S.
Congrats to 48 year old Gordie Sampson a member of the Class of 2020 at Riverview High in Coxheath, Cape Breton!
-Ian
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