On Friday, June 21st, we celebrated the graduation of our Grade 8 classes. Ms. Tam opened this year’s ceremony with a warm welcome. The graduates then entered the gym as one of our talented Grade 5 students played the traditional Pomp and Circumstance by Elgar on the piano. Once everyone was seated, the audience enjoyed a compilation slideshow of our students from the time they started at Wesley. For many in this class, it was in our toddler and preschool programs.
After Mr. Schmidt’s Scripture readings and Mme. Hoover’s prayer for the graduates, we were honoured to hear special music sung by Mrs. Jan Ong.
Next, the Grade 8 student awards were given out, starting with five different Christian character awards – The David Award for Leadership, The Ruth Award for Loyalty, The Nehemiah Award for Perseverance, The Jonathan Award for Friendship and the Daniel Award for Integrity.
For the class awards, various teachers in our elementary division went up on stage to present awards for the Gauss Math Competition, Musician of the Year (Male and Female), Athlete of the Year (Male and Female), General Proficiency (highest overall average) and ACE (Attitude, Cooperation, Effort).
The last award was the Principal’s Award, given by Mrs. Serio herself.
Before the moment everyone was waiting for, Mrs. Ong led the audience in singing two worship songs.
This year’s diplomas were handed out by Mrs. Serio. This was followed by another slideshow consisting of some thoughts and memories written by our graduates about their time at Wesley.
Our guest speaker at the ceremony was Pastor Mark Griffith who has been a chapel speaker at the elementary services for many years and the students knew him well. As per his typical style, Pastor Griffith loved to get the students to participate in his messages. On that night, he asked them to say, “I’ll be with you” every time he said, “Don’t worry!” This happened several times throughout the message. Pastor Griffith’s encouragement centered around the story of Moses and the burning bush. He explained that Moses’s life had been spared as an infant because God had a plan for him. Those plans could only be completed by Moses. Pastor Griffith recounted some of the story of Moses but then explained that the Grade 8 students were also at their “burning bush” moment. He said that they were Moses, standing before God at the burning bush. They may be fearful of moving from someplace they know (WCA) to a new place (high school) where they do not know what to expect. However, he assured them that Wesley has prepared them well for the future and God is with them, enabling them to do the great things that He has planned for each of them. He concluded by saying, “God is telling you ‘Don’t Worry’. ” The Grade 8s immediately responded by saying, “I’ll be with you.” Pastor Griffith encouraged the graduates to be like Moses, to rise to the occasion, and to be excited that God is with them on their road forward.
Mrs. Serio closed the evening with some final remarks and prayer for the graduates. Everyone then went outside for photos before returning to the gym for light refreshments and an opportunity to use the photo booth and play a few Wesley trivia games.
We are very proud of our Class of 2024 and wish them God’s grace and love as they leave Wesley’s doors. May they take all that they have learned and experienced here into the world and be a light for Christ as they move forward onto new and different paths that God has set before them.
