As the class of 2019 gets ready for graduation, the 8th graders and Ms. Mathews scramble together during the month of May to have a successful graduation ceremony. Those who have been here for years have been preparing for this day since they were young, and now it is only a day away. Ms. Mathews explains how she guides the 8th grade classes to create an exciting day for all of us, and I share the planning process through the eyes of a student.

Since she started teaching 8th grade Religion, Ms. Mathews has been the lead teacher who helps with the preparation leading up to graduation. Although she is the adult that guides the 8th graders, she likes to leave a lot of the planning up to the students, so they can have a ceremony which they planned and executed themselves. Sometimes, leaving the decision to the students does result in hiccups along the way.This year, the class of 2019 has had a difficult time finding and choosing a song for graduation (eventually, we did choose one). Despite the challenges faced, Ms. Mathews notes that the students are prepared to leave the school, and “[they’re] ready to experience a new challenge.” However, she is sad to see the students leave year after year. The ceremony itself is preceded by a mass, which usually takes an hour while the ceremony lasts roughly thirty minutes. Although it is a hard job, Ms. Mathews hopes to continue leading the 8th grade to have a successful 8th grade graduation.

From my point of view, planning graduation takes a long time, but it is also a fulfilling experience. I have always looked up to the previous 8th grades, and I couldn’t wait to be one of them, graduating from middle school and moving on to high school. Throughout this year, graduation hasn’t been the hottest topic that we’ve talked about, but as we’ve gotten closer to the date, that slowly became our sole focus during Religion class. The whole class was excited to begin planning for the occasion with small speeches and songs. We decided to follow St. Robert’s traditional way of reflecting back on the years and singing a class song. This year, the chosen song is You’ve Got A Friend in Me even though this decision was a last minute selection due to competing ideas. The class is also looking ahead for high school along with counting down the days until our final day. Since we had started preparing back in early May, and we have made great progress as we added our own kick to certain aspects of the traditional ceremony.

In conclusion, the class of 2019’s graduation is right around the corner, and we have been preparing for this day for over a month. Even though we may have worked long into crunch time, we hope that we are able to go out with a bang as we share our previous memories from the past year to ten years ago! Personally, I would like to thank St. Robert school for several great years of learning, faith-filled, and exciting events.