Eighth-Graders Are Moving on Up!

It’s not every day that hundreds of eighth-graders advance to High School, and the Middle School responded accordingly, throwing the Eighth-Grade Celebration ceremony on Tuesday in the school gym.

“Remember moments of gratitude and friendship and be proud of who you are,” Principal Tami Badinger told the nearly 200 eighth-grade finishers.

Students received their certificates of completion at a ceremony similar to a high school commencement, complete with speeches and a walk across a stage, while family and friends observed from the stands in the gym. 

However, before students received their certificates of completion, the crowd of students, staff, and loved ones attended to a resonant rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner,” courtesy of golden-voiced eighth-grader Aurora Timmons, and listened to speeches by eighth-graders Yaharit Cisneros Gonzalez and Jhoana Valerio Ramos. Students must be in good academic standing and receive approval from staff and administrators to speak. In her speech, Cisneros Gonzalez thanked her parents.

“I am who I am because of them,” she said.

Valerio Ramos also thanked those who had supported her and looked to the future.

“Instead of focusing on the little things, let’s focus on what’s ahead,” she said. “Malcolm X once said, ‘Education is the passport to the future.’”

Principal David Sheldon, who will lead the Intermediate School next year, offered some guidance on how to spend those future years. Sheldon advised students to cultivate not only joy and love in their lives, but a sense of purpose.

“If you have that purpose, you will show up every day engaged in what you are doing,” Sheldon explained.

They’ll need to start thinking about that, as they’re older and will have more responsibilities.

After all, as High School Principal De Ann Jenness said when she addressed the crowd, “You’re Huskies now!”

(Recording not available)