Graduation Day, 2011

 Last Tuesday, June 14th, Gwen graduated from 8th grade.  Hard to believe that a whole school year has passed since she moved in.  In Washington, 8th grade graduation isn't that big of a deal.  But she learned that in Illinois, and especially in Chicago, it is.  Cora hit it on the nose, I think, when she said that maybe the reason it is a big deal in Chicago, is that a lot of these kids have gone to the same elementary school with the same group since kindergarten, but with "school choice" in Chicago, they are all scattering off to different high schools around the city.  Almost like high school graduation with kids all going off to different colleges.

It was a beautiful day.  Sunny and pleasant.  Unlike the most recent graduations I've attended for the Kermodes in the Princeton gym, the mid 70's with a cool breeze was wonderful.

The day before graduation, Gwen got a request.  Due to how close all the grades were, she was going to be named co-salutatorian* of her class!  :-)  And would she like to give a speech!  :-(  At first she didn't want to, especially on such short notice, but in the end, she ended up reading a poem she wrote in class about graduation.  And Cora and I were in the front row, snapping pictures like fools.  This is the first of her school events that I've had the chance to go to, and I was a proud papa.

Here are a couple of videos from the ceremony:

Graduation 2011 - 01 - Then and Now

This was part of the slideshow before the students entered the building.  And of course Gwen is with a pirate.

Graduation 2011 - 02 – Processional

Graduation 2011 - 03 - Speech

She was so nervous the night before.  She probably read it 10 times thru to us as practice.  And then another 2 or 3 in the morning.  But as you saw, she nailed it.

Graduation 2011 - 04 - Diploma

And now she's a high schooler!  How did that happen?!?

Graduation 2011 - 05 – Smile

Yes, I meant to take a still picture, but still had the camera set to video mode.  But she looks so darn happy, I view this as a happy accident.  (And then switched it to "still" mode, and shot the picture at the top of this story.

Graduation 2011 - 06 – Recessional

And that about wraps up the ceremony.  We all went outside for hugs, and for goodbyes.  And we saw this entrepreneur out there making a quick buck from a ton of balloons, and buckets of flowers.

We came home, and Gwen unwrapped her presents.

And then we asked her where she wanted to go for dinner to celebrate.  Her eyes got a wistful look, and she smiled.  And off to White Castle we went, and she enjoyed her chicken ring sandwiches like they were the best reward possible.

* There was some deal with the top 4 all having really close grades, so they added 2 more into the mix, and Gwen was one of them.  Her report card for the year was straight A's.  The perfectionist in her will point out that she did have a "B" in PE for the 3rd quarter because she was sick a lot, but she pulled it up to an "A" for the semester.  Her mother and I are so proud of her.  With the wedding and the move and all, it would have been easy for her to get distracted and for her grades to slip.  But they didn't.