Graduation. One word that can bring both tears to a students eyes, and a smile to their lips. To me, graduation is an official goodbye before the start of a new beginning, that beginning being high school. We will soon be going to separate schools where we will encounter new friends, new teachers and a completely different community. It’s unfortunate that these are the last days of our elementary years, and that soon we will all be parting. As we go to our schools we will face new obstacles, however, this time, we will face them alone since we will no longer have each other.
There are many people who have influenced me and have helped me during the times that I have been at St.Luigi. First off, I’d like to thank the graduates, who I have spent my entire life with, and are now my closest friends. Although we have all had our tough times, I know that I can count on you to be there for me when I need you. Then we have our teachers, who have taught us everything we know and who try, on a daily basis, to teach us life lessons that we don’t usually learn in school. Thank you to the staff for putting up with us all these years, you deserve a lot of credit for that. Thank you to our parents for always believing in us and always pushing us to do better. A special thanks to our Me to We committee for trying to make a difference in the world and to our student council who have taken time out of their days to plan all of the events we have participated in this year. And a final thank you to God, he has brought us all together in this community and he has blessed us with all of our friendships. You have all made a difference to us during the time we have been at St.Luigi.
We came into St.Luigi as young children and we have grown so much since those first days of Junior Kindergarten. We’ve come a long way since then both socially and mentally. From our first friends and 123′s to our final goodbyes and the circumference of a circle, we have learned so much. We have been preparing for our departure from this school for so long, but now that we are here it all seems so surreal. We have made many new friends during these years and I know that these relationships we have will last forever.
Along with everything we’ve learned, we have made many unbelievable and truly unforgettable memories. I know that I will never forget the day that Tiago Loureiro entered the classroom with his hand stuck in a jar, or how during our student council elections someone decided to vote Obama for president. I remember the time that Amanda D was close to tears because she had a bug in her hair. And remember Boblaska’ The pet stick that everyone hated. I’ll never be able to forget Sarah and her extensive vocabulary or Tiago Da Silva’s need to be constantly correcting me. I know that I’ll never forget the April Fools jokes we had planned, some involved a dirty diaper, and others ‘Happy Birthday’ streamers. And some involving hiding in garbage cans and recycling bins in Mr.Noto’s class. The dances that the student council had planned were always filled with unexpected events and some unique dance moves. One of my favourite memories are about a boy named Shawn, who decided to put his hood on during class and knot the laces as tight as he possibly could. The only thing that we could actually see was his nose, sticking out of the little. Ms.Coveny’s face was priceless and I remember her trying to cut Shawn out of his sweater because he couldn’t breathe.
The small things that would happen everyday are ones I will never forget. Nicholas would always be saying random comments in class that would get everyone laughing. I’m sure we all remember the time that someone’s phone rang in class while praying the ‘Our Father’ and we had all raised our voice so that the teacher wouldn’t hear it ringing. However, not all of our memories revolve around the students, we have many memories that also involve the staff. Ms.Pinho will be known as the teacher who never screamed, Ms.Purssglove and Ms.Silva were the teachers who can seriously dance. I don’t think I will ever be able to forget Mr.Lorimer and his awkward dance moves during our instrumental time, or Mme.Ritacca’s journey through high school. All of the memories we share are incredible and I hope in the future there will be plenty more.
Here we are tonight, in matching caps and gowns saying one last goodbye to our friends, our school and the last ten years of our life. The events that have led up to this day were ones I will hopefully never forget. We have shared so many smiles and laughs and tonight it seems as if it’s all over. There aren’t any words to express the way that I’m feeling tonight, although I’m sure Sarah can come up with some for me. Tomorrow will be our luncheon and our last dance at St.Luigi, then the days leading up will be our last days as grade eights. In September we will all be niners, begging not to get shoved into lockers buy the older students and showing up late to class bec