Are we in good hands?

[CO. Hoosier]

Attended my granddaughters public high school graduation yesterday.

I’ve come away with more optimism than when I went in.

Here’s why.

First of all, unlike some places, all the honors kids were given full recognition. The IB kids wore different sashes and were also given special recognition. Almost half the class were in IB. The only issue of concern.was that the top 10 students were all girls, except 1.

Except for the school principal, who spoke about the class accomplishments and difficulty with a year and one half of on-line learning, no adult spoke. The graduation speakers were the Valedictorian. The salutatorian, and three other class members and the class president. . Each of the 6 kids spoke for 5-10 minutes. They used words like hope, dreams, character, hard work, future, no limits, be yourself, thankfulness, respect, love, family, and more. Absent from the speeches was words like hate, gender, supremacy, climate, worry, shootings, protests, and more. Each kid received rousing applause. Even this old fart who has heard, seen and done much , felt inspired. As I listened I wished the President, Vice President, cabinet, and all members of congress could have heard these kids. What a remarkable difference from what most of them produce at commencements.

In case you are wondering, the class is pretty evenly ethnically divided as were the student speakers.

 

[SqueakyClean]

My son graduates tomorrow. We had a special awards ceremony last week where the honors students each received their different colored braids that are 3' long and hang around their necks. 3.0+ get green, 3.8+ get blue, 4.0+ get white. National honor society kids got an extra gold braid.

Also, those who were going into military service were also given an additional red, white, and blue braid. What was amazing / encouraging to me was that of the 25-ish kids that were going into the military, 16 were female, and it was a complete mixture of all races.

I kinda like the setup where the honors kids all get their own recognition at the special awards ceremony and they get the colored braids so that they can stand out on graduation day, but it will also keep the actual graduation ceremony from being 4 hours long from having to read off all of the awards that each kid was getting.

The awards ceremony was like yours, only the superintendent got a speech, the rest were by the students. Several Covid jokes, but more in the "Look at what we have accomplished under difficult circumstances" vibe.
Hopefully tomorrow will be the same way.

 

[hoosboot]

My son graduates tomorrow. We had a special awards ceremony last week where the honors students each received their different colored braids that are 3' long and hang around their necks. 3.0+ get green, 3.8+ get blue, 4.0+ get white. National honor society kids got an extra gold braid.

Also, those who were going into military service were also given an additional red, white, and blue braid. What was amazing / encouraging to me was that of the 25-ish kids that were going into the military, 16 were female, and it was a complete mixture of all races.

I kinda like the setup where the honors kids all get their own recognition at the special awards ceremony and they get the colored braids so that they can stand out on graduation day, but it will also keep the actual graduation ceremony from being 4 hours long from having to read off all of the awards that each kid was getting.

The awards ceremony was like yours, only the superintendent got a speech, the rest were by the students. Several Covid jokes, but more in the "Look at what we have accomplished under difficult circumstances" vibe.
Hopefully tomorrow will be the same way.

Congrats to your son!

 

[stollcpa]

Attended my granddaughters public high school graduation yesterday.

I’ve come away with more optimism than when I went in.

Here’s why.

First of all, unlike some places, all the honors kids were given full recognition. The IB kids wore different sashes and were also given special recognition. Almost half the class were in IB. The only issue of concern.was that the top 10 students were all girls, except 1.

Except for the school principal, who spoke about the class accomplishments and difficulty with a year and one half of on-line learning, no adult spoke. The graduation speakers were the Valedictorian. The salutatorian, and three other class members and the class president. . Each of the 6 kids spoke for 5-10 minutes. They used words like hope, dreams, character, hard work, future, no limits, be yourself, thankfulness, respect, love, family, and more. Absent from the speeches was words like hate, gender, supremacy, climate, worry, shootings, protests, and more. Each kid received rousing applause. Even this old fart who has heard, seen and done much , felt inspired. As I listened I wished the President, Vice President, cabinet, and all members of congress could have heard these kids. What a remarkable difference from what most of them produce at commencements.

In case you are wondering, the class is pretty evenly ethnically divided as were the student speakers.

Hope!!!!!!!!!

 

[outside shooter]

Having high-achieving kids aged 23, 26, and 29 and often meeting their peers, I have been very optimistic about their values, energy, and focus on making positive change.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

Attended my granddaughters public high school graduation yesterday.

I’ve come away with more optimism than when I went in.

Here’s why.

First of all, unlike some places, all the honors kids were given full recognition. The IB kids wore different sashes and were also given special recognition. Almost half the class were in IB. The only issue of concern.was that the top 10 students were all girls, except 1.

Except for the school principal, who spoke about the class accomplishments and difficulty with a year and one half of on-line learning, no adult spoke. The graduation speakers were the Valedictorian. The salutatorian, and three other class members and the class president. . Each of the 6 kids spoke for 5-10 minutes. They used words like hope, dreams, character, hard work, future, no limits, be yourself, thankfulness, respect, love, family, and more. Absent from the speeches was words like hate, gender, supremacy, climate, worry, shootings, protests, and more. Each kid received rousing applause. Even this old fart who has heard, seen and done much , felt inspired. As I listened I wished the President, Vice President, cabinet, and all members of congress could have heard these kids. What a remarkable difference from what most of them produce at commencements.

In case you are wondering, the class is pretty evenly ethnically divided as were the student speakers.

I've met a lot of youth, I think we are in good hands. Kids today are somewhat different from us, but different isn't better or worse, just different. They reflect a different time.