It was a race that took 13 years to complete, but one high school graduate in Saskatchewan has made it to the finish line with a rare accolade.

Violet Starr recently graduated high school with perfect attendance, from kindergarten all the way to Grade 12.

It’s the first time a student has achieved this record at her high school, Payepot School in Piapot First Nation near Regina.

Throughout those 13 years, Starr was a focused and determined student.

“I can remember waking up and it was winter, like minus 40 (degrees Celsius), and I’d wake up my dad, ‘Can I go to school, I’m late.’”

Starr’s father, Delbert David Kaisowatum, said sometimes she didn’t bother to even wake him.

“I used to sleep in, I’d wake up and she was gone,” he said with a laugh.

But Starr gives credit to her father, who raised his daughter and her three older siblings as a single parent.

She “probably would have never finished school,” if it wasn’t for her father’s encouragement to keep going, Starr said.

If she was “trying to slack,” he would say, “No, just go, you’re almost done,” she recalled.

Kaisowatum attended Starr’s graduation as her proud father – and as her escort.

There he watched as she received numerous accolades for her hard work, including an eagle feather, a Governor General’s award, and a spot on the honour roll.

She also received a pair of star blankets, one from the chief in council, the other from the bus driver who drove her to school every day for 13 years.

Kaisowatum said he felt “emotional and happy” as he watched his daughter get called up for award after award.

Payepot school principal Marlis Montgomery says Starr and her family have much to be proud of.

“She’s a true testament that attendance is a pinnacle point of academic success, as well as her father’s parental support,” Montgomery said. “So with a combination of the two, she was very successful this year.”

Starr is planning to attend classes at the University of Regina in the fall, and study business and art.

With a report by CTV Regina’s Creeson Agecoutay