On Thursday, May 5, sixty-three eighth-grade students were celebrated at the Eighth-Grade Commissioning Ceremony. The ceremony is held each year to honor students as they complete Middle School. Both students and parents reflected on the students’ accomplishments and school administrators charged eighth graders to continue walking a path of wisdom and godliness as they enter the Upper School.
Dr. Ron Farrar congratulated the students on completing Middle School and Nathan Stevens, Upper School principal, welcomed them to the next level of education.
“I have watched these children as they have grown in faith and maturity,” said Dr. Farrar. “I know they will continue to excel in the Upper School.”
The students received this year’s academic awards (listed below) during the ceremony. At the conclusion of the academic awards, each student was called to the stage, shook Dr. Farrar’s hand, and received a framed picture of the eighth-grade class.
Middle School teachers described the character qualities of each student, based on the acronym WolfPack, which stands for wisdom, ownership, legacy, faith, purity, attitude, courage, and knowledge. The teachers reflected on students’ personalities, achievements, and growth during Middle School and assigned each student the quality from this list that fit. These qualities were discussed during StoneWorks, a year-long character study led by Tyrone Johnson, and taught by parents and school leaders during the eighth grade year. Congratulations to these award winners and all our eighth-grade students:
Academic Excellence
Lindsay Mills
Timothy Award
Everett Sinclair
Emily Little
English
Academic Excellence
Anna Bracher
Teacher's Award
Katarina Kelly
Passion for Learning Award
Annie Edwards
Foreign Language
Academic Excellence in Latin
Devin Wade
Academic Excellence in French
Kylie Weihe
Academic Excellence in Spanish
Grayson Nour
World Cultures
Academic Excellence
Emily Little
Teacher's Award
Faith Jones
Passion for Learning Award
Will Thomas
Math
Academic Excellence - Honors Algebra I
Annie Edwards
Academic Excellence - Algebra I
Jason Dinschel
Academic Excellence- Math 8
Emmy Smith
Physical Science
Academic Excellence
Devin Wade
Teacher's Award
Maddie King
Passion for Learning Award
Virginia Herschend
Physical Education
Excellence in PE
Micah Smith
Emily Little
Coach's Award
A.J. Hopkins
Paulina Bilotti
Excellence in Art
Sophia Trovato
Excellence in Marching and Concert Band
Everett Sinclair
Excellence in Band 1
Andrew Thomas-Brown
Excellence in Chorus
Annie Edwards
Excellence in Drama
Maddie King
Excellence in Orchestra
Micah Smith