001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> [music] [music] >> I feel a pain there. >> [snorts] >> Mhm. >> Good morning. >> [snorts] >> If you would, please stand and remain standing as we have Shania Bellfield lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please remain standing for a moment of silence. You may be seated. Again, good morning and welcome to the 2025-2026 Greensboro 8th grade bridge ceremony. Now we will have Brendan Smith, an 8th grader, will give you your welcome. Welcome students, staff, and families, and guests to E. Wiley 8th grade graduation. Today is a big day. It marks the end of middle school and the start
002of our next chapter in high school. To the parents and teachers, thank you for all the help you gave us students to get us to this point. Graduates, you have worked hard to reach this goal. Being a pandemic, showing up, and doing your best. And today we see the results of that effort. Be proud of what you have done here and stay focused on what is coming next. Congratulations to class of 2030. We wish you the best of luck. >> [applause] >> And now we will have Dr. Posey Jones, Greensboro Grimsley High School principal, give your acceptance address. Good morning, Ms. Person, Dr. White, school board members, faculty, parents, and guardians, and most importantly, the future CLASS OF 2030. MY NAME IS DR. SHONTEL Posey Jones, and I am proud to serve as the principal
003of the great, great, Grimsley Grimsley Grimsley High School. Today is a special day because we are celebrating you. You have successfully completed middle school and now you are preparing to begin a brand new chapter of life, high school. Some of you are excited. I can see that some of you are very nervous. Some of you may still be trying to figure out what high school is really going to be like. Let me reassure you. It will be one of the fastest, most important, and most memorable journeys of your life. But I also want to be honest with you this morning. High school is not always easy. There will be days when you feel overwhelmed. I have seen students who started high school believing they were not smart enough, not strong enough, or not capable enough
004to succeed. But I have also seen these same students persevere. I have watched students overcome adversity, raise their grades, become leaders, earn scholarships, pass difficult FCAT tests, walk across the graduation stage, and accomplish goals that once thought were impossible. You know why? Do you know why? Because they made a decision not to quit. And that is what I want you to understand before you step foot into Gradesville County High School. Your circumstances do not determine your future. Your decisions do. Now, let me repeat this one more time. Your circumstances do not determine your future. Your decisions do. At Gradesville County High School, we believe in excellence. We believe in accountability. We believe in hard work, but most importantly, we believe in you. Even on the days where you may not even believe in yourselves. Every
005morning, you will hear me say, "At Greensville County High School, we walk like, we talk like, we act like, and we work hard like a champ." You may ask, "What does champ stand for?" C means you are cooperative. Repeat after me, C C means you are what? H means you are honest. Repeat after me, H means what? A means you're always always respectful. Repeat after me, you are what? M means you make safe, responsible choices. What does M mean? And you're always always present and prompt. Repeat after me, you're what? Got you. These words are not just expectations for school, they are life skills that will help you succeed long after graduation. So today, I want to challenge each of you to start strong from the very beginning. Show up every day. Attendance matters. One
006missed assignment can turn into several. One bad decision can create obstacles that are hard to overcome. Do not wait until senior year to take school seriously. Build good habits now. I have something I want you to remember I want you to remember something very important. Your story is still being written. Do not allow one mistake, one bad grade, one setback, or one difficult season to define who you are. Some of the most successful students that walked the halls of Greensville County High School faced struggles early on. What made the difference was their willingness to keep going. >> Now with great pride and excitement that has officially welcomed the future class of 2030 and your parents and guardians to Greensville County High School, home of the Eagles. Now let's get ready to soar. Thank you. >>
007[cheering] >> Thank you, Dr. Mose James. And now we will have words of encouragement by eighth grader Catherine and followed by her, uh, Greensville County High School student Jordan Moore. Class of 2030, you've finished middle school. That is a solid achievement and you should be proud of the work that you put in to get here. The next four years are a path towards your future goals. Trust yourself. You've already proven that you can learn, adapt, and succeed. High school is just another step and you're fully capable of taking it. It's new, it's bigger, and it will push us in different ways, but we've already proven something very important. We are resilient. We know how to adapt, how to grow, and how to rise when things feel difficult. We may be leaving middle school behind, but
008we are not leaving the lessons or the memories. Those come with us and they'll help us guide forward. We believe in your potential and stay focused on your goals. You are more than capable of handling whatever comes your way. Congratulations, class of 2030. This is just the beginning. Good morning, everybody. Um, I would like to thank E.W.Y. for thinking and requesting me to present this speech for for guys. First, I would like to congratulate you all for it for making it to this moment. It may seem unreal or just as real as it is, but it's true. You all graduated middle school. As you leave here today and head off to high school, many of you are excited, proud, nervous, or maybe even unsure about what comes next. And that's honestly all okay. Middle school
009has never been easy. You've all faced challenges in different ways. Some of you may have struggled with classes, friendships, maybe even self-confidence. I know there are moments when your obstacles seem bigger than your dreams and goals. But look at you now. You finally made it here. That just alone proves something so important. You are all stronger than you think. I would like to take a second and be truthful with you. Moving into high school, life will continue to challenge you. There will most likely be harder classes, bigger responsibilities, failures, and times where success feels far away. But your obstacles aren't there to stop you. They're there to teach you, strengthen you, and prepare you for who you are becoming. Coming into high school, I was unsure of what my journey would be. I was unsure
010about my environment and my future. I was walking into a place where I didn't have any expectations but only of myself. I didn't know this place and this place didn't know me. But as time went on, we eventually started to get to know one another. Take your best friend for example, whoever that may be. At one point you guys didn't know one fact that made up that person. And now you pretty much know everything. You found comfortability, trust, and ease. A happiness that can only lie in that one place. I trust that high school can be the same. One day, many many years from now, you're not going to remember every test that you didn't get the best score on or every awkward middle school moment that we all have, but the life lessons and
011memories to cherish from being here. Today, you don't just celebrate your achievements, but also your resilience. If there's one thing you take with you tonight, I hope it will be to believe in yourself. Believe in yourself before the world does. Believe in yourself when you don't pass a test or a quiz. Believe in yourself when you feel left out and or behind. Believe in yourself when things don't go don't go according to plan. Believe in yourself when you feel uncertain. Because at the end of the day, you are the master of your own reality. I encourage you to walk into high school with confidence. Take chances, work hard, lift yourself and the people around you up. And when life puts obstacles in your path, don't stop. Overcome them. Peter Drucker once said, "The best way
012to predict the future is to create it." So, go. Build it, create it, and achieve and achieve it. Thank you and congratulations. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Catherine and Jordan. Before we move on to the main event, I would like to turn the program over to our band director here, Mr. Davis, as the band gives us a farewell performance. >> Good morning. Before I give my speech, I'm going to ask that the eighth grade band please start moving to the stage. Allen, get everybody ready. Good morning again, everyone. Oh, let me say this. Good morning, Panthers. Good morning. Good morning. Are you all excited? Yes. All right. Let me speak a little bit about the eighth grade band here at E.W. Wyatt Middle School. Um, I'm going into about my 10th year as an educator,
013and I have to say this is by far one of the most advanced groups I've ever worked with. Can you hear me? The time table is going to kick in in a little bit. But yes, speaking on the eighth grade band, we have a very good uh We have a very good group of eighth graders here at E.W. Wyatt Middle School. And today they're going to perform three pieces for you all to highlight their advancement in musicianship. And I hope you all enjoy that. This performance will highlight their tone, their sound, and their playing abilities. So, as they prepare, I'm going to go backstage and we're going to get started to perform. Thank you. >> [bell] >> Amen. >> [music] [bell] [music] >> Amen. Amen. >> [music] [music] >> Amen. Amen. >> [music] >> Amen.
014Amen. >> [music] >> Amen. Amen. >> [music] >> Amen. Amen. >> [music] >> Amen. Amen. >> [music] >> Amen. Amen. Amen. [music] Amen. >> [music] [music] >> Amen. >> [music] >> Amen. >> [music] >> Amen. >> [music] >> Amen. Amen. >> [music] >> Amen. Amen. Amen. [music] Amen. >> [music] >> Amen. Amen. Brains. >> [applause] [music] >> Brains. Brains. >> [music] [music] >> Brains. >> [music] >> One, two. >> [music] [music] >> One, two. >> Once we have our eighth graders return to their seats, it's showtime. Testing, testing. >> And now for the moment that has brought us here this morning, we will begin with our presentation of our bridging certificates. Will our first row please stand? Boular Abusaleh Riley Alford Raina Alamari >> [screaming] >> Amari Austin Zamarie Anderson Jayden Andrews Nathaniel Armour Talia
015Bailey Jamie Barner McKinley Barnes Shanaya Banfield Quentin Bethea Catherine Melchora Caxton Brown Zacchaeus Brown Second row, stand. Jake Byrd AMY GONZALEZ ALAN Castro Allison Castro Shanaya CASCA SORIANA Casca Jackson Craft Ronnie Cruz Destiny Curry Marquise Davis Vanessa De Luna Ramirez RILEY DILLO KAMAYA Easter Damaria EDWARDS BENTLEY Featherston Madeleine Garcia Powell >> MARION GREEN ALAINA HARDING ANTHONY HARRIS Noel Harris Gregory Harvey Malaysia Hawkins MARIO HICKS KENAYA HILL Quazay Hodo DeQuan Hodo Akarion James Messiah Johnson Demetria Jones Fourth row, stand. Imani Joseph Talia Lassiter Angele LEWIS STEPHEN LEWIS JELENA Lee Zachariah Mann Jamila MANNING MALACHI McDowell Deonna McNear Summer Meredith Billy Moody Brylan Moody Caleb MOORE RAYNA Murillo Zaire MORROW HAKEEM Norwood Fifth row, please stand. ANDRE PEEBLES ISAIAH PEEBLES STACY PORRAS ANDY PORRAS JAVION PIERCE >> [screaming] >> TRAVIAN PIERCE Gabriel Pittman MCKENNA POLK KAMAYA POLK
016AKEELAH PORTER Lakaya Powell McKinley Powell SAKURA PRUITT KENDALL PUTNAM ITZEL RAMIREZ ALAN Randall Sixth row, please stand. Anthony Reeves Destiny Reed Luke Richardson Kyler Riggs Unique Rodgers Ian RIVERA LONDON Roper Darius SANDERS >> [screaming] >> AKIMMI SEABOURN RAMAGE SCOTT DYLAN CERVANTES LONDON SMITH GRADY POWELL LEANNA Howard Ranae Stevens Zion Stevenson >> [cheering] >> Final row, please stand. TY TODD JAYDEN TANNER Colton Taylor Taylor Thomas JAVION TYLER KAMAYA WALTON Trevor Walton Jakai WARE JAMARI WHITAKER JAYONNA White-Bell Camden Wilder Artis WILLIAMS KAMARI WILLIAMS Malaysia Williams SHAWAE Williams Shantae White Messiah Williams Javon Atkins >> [cheering] >> Tashawn Rhodes You may be seated. Congratulations, eighth graders. >> [cheering] >> AND NOW WE HAVE CLOSING remarks by our principal, Ms. Parson. Good morning, FAMILY, STAFF, AND CLASS of 2030. GOOD MORNING! TODAY MARKS AN IMPORTANT MILESTONE AS we celebrate
017your transition from middle school to high school. This moment is both an ending and a beginning. It was just 3 years ago that I sent you off to Wyatt Middle School as the last class of BELL FORTE ELEMENTARY. I DIDN'T KNOW I'D BE COMING WITH YOU, BUT HERE WE ARE. I CHALLENGED you in that farewell speech to make us proud that you had passed our way, and you have done just that. You have grown tremendously academically, socially, and personally. You have excelled in academics, earned many, many awards, participated in sports, extracurricular activities, and represented your school with pride. You became a part of the boys and girls championship basketball team. You participated in forensic, volleyball, softball, baseball, band, and you helped restart a football program that had been inactive for over 20 YEARS. >> [screaming]
018>> BECAUSE OF ALL YOU HAVE achieved achieved, Wyatt was able to shine, not only across the state of Virginia, but in five other states as well with all the awards you won. COME ON, LET'S ALL CLAP FOR HIM. AS YOU MOVE ON TO HIGH SCHOOL, YOU will encounter new expectations, greater independence, and more opportunities to shape your future. Take advantage of them. Get involved. Challenge yourself, and do not be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. Remember that the choices your choices matter. Every decision you make helps define the path you are creating for yourself. Always remember that we are proud of you, and we see greatness in your future. In fact, you already look even better in your future than you do right now. Keep striving, and be great because you have what
019it takes to make it. I look forward to the day when you walk across that stage at Greensville County High School as graduating seniors. Please continue to make us proud. Excel in all you do. Never give up, even when times get hard. Get back up and try again. Surround yourself with people who can encourage you to do better, and to push you towards success. I'm so proud of each one of you. And once again, I will say to you, make us proud that you passed our way, and show the world that the impact E.W. Middle School had on your life truly made a difference. I'm now sending you off to the Eagles Nest. GO FORTH AND SOAR! >> [screaming] >> Congratulations and best wishes for your journey through high school. Congratulations to the class of
0202030. >> [screaming] >> How quickly time has gone. And it will go as quickly as they prepare to enter high school. And so, parents, please hold on to them. Please hold them very close to your heart. And it will be a transition like none other. The ninth grade is actually the most difficult grade in the high school. So, they're going to need your support. They're going to tell you that they don't, but I promise you, as Dr. Posey James indicated earlier, they're going to need your full support. So, parents, thank you for an awesome journey. Thank you for allowing us the privilege of serving you and your children. And we don't take this moment lightly, but again, we are appreciative and we thank you for all that you've done to support Wyatt Middle School over
021the course of 3 years. And now as we prepare to exit the gym today, I want to share with you um our our exiting strategy if if I may. And so because our sixth graders are preparing to come to lunch, the graduates are already aware of how they're going to exit. And so we're going to ask that you wait until they exit, and I am gracious that the rain has HELD OFF. YES. AND SO AS WE PREPARE TO EXIT, after the graduates have exited, we're going to ask that you exit also onto the grounds. And so you can reconnect with your own with your student on the outside. And so we will have two doors available for your exiting. The main door that you came into, and then there's a door to my left, and
022it's going to be to your right as you're going down the hallway heading north. So you can use both exits. It will expedite the time that it will take to exit the gym. And so again, parents, thank you. Graduates, thank you so much. You've been a phenomenal group, and so we look forward to your great success. >> [screaming] >> Also parents, if you are going to leave with your student today after the ceremony, please see their teacher that you might sign them out. Uh we are accountable for them, and so again, please your child will know who to direct you to. And so please sign them out if you intend to have them to leave with you on today. And so at this time, the band will give us our processional music. Graduates, class of
0232030, please stand. Parents, if you will stand. >> Mhm.