Houston Blog
My blog from Houston, Texas. Updated most weeks, usually on Sundays.
I lost count early in the week, but I probably shook somewhere between a thousand and two thousand hands at various ceremonies this week. Most of the hands were small ones that belonged to Awty students, and the reason was a succession of celebratory events including graduation ceremonies, awards presentations and dinners.
The events began on Tuesday morning when we held the 5th grade graduation ceremony, making the end of Primary School for the 87 students who are eligible to progress into the Middle School in August. The ceremony began with a sensational performance of the musical ‘Tom Sawyer’, after which the students received their graduation diplomas. I was very impressed with their confidence and self-assuredness as each received their diploma, walking confidently across the stage, shaking my hand and looking directly me as I took the opportunity to congratulate each one in turn.
Wednesday saw two further celebratory events. On Wednesday morning, we held the Kindergarten graduation ceremony in the Globe. During the ceremony, 93 children marked the end of their Kindergarten education, parading in their gorgeous little graduation gowns and receiving their Kindergarten diplomas before putting on a heart-warming and very impressive musical performance for the proud parents and grandparents who came to attend the event.
That evening, we held the induction ceremony into various Honor Societies - specifically the National Honor Society, the French Honor Society, the Junior Honor Society, the Spanish Honor Society, the Chinese Honor Society, the Arts Honor Society and the Triple-M (Music) Honor Society. The awards were presented to students, both on the basis of their past achievements and their commitments to meeting future goals, and it was especially impressive to welcome many students to the stage for their involvement in multiple honor societies. Many of the students received cords which, in the case of those in Grade 12, were worn later in the week in the Graduation Ceremony.
On Thursday, we held two major awards presentation ceremonies, one for the Middle School and one for the Upper School. Once again, it was very impressive to welcome many students to the stage multiple times to receive several awards, a sure sign of the diverse areas of excellence displayed by so many Awty students.
A sumptuous stand-up lunch in a huge tent in the main Courtyard concluded the two hour ceremony. Seldom have I seen such a positive and appreciative group of students and parents as I witnessed during our lunch together. We will certainly miss our Grade 12 students - they were a superb group of young men and women whose positive attitude, cohesiveness, mutual respect and warm welcome to me as a new Head immeasurably smoothed my arrival to Awty last August.
Awty just won’t be the same without them.
Shaking hundreds of hands
Sunday, 27 May 2012
I lost count early in the week, but I probably shook somewhere between a thousand and two thousand hands at various ceremonies this week.