001welcome to joseph george middle school's 8th grade promotion for 2021 we are honored to be here today to celebrate the students promoting to high school please stand for the star spangled banner played by our very own 8th grader julian ayala [Music] three [Music] plan great job julian now please remain standing for the pledge of allegiance put your right hand on your heart ready begin 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 thank you and you may be seated again welcome guests parents students and staff it is my pleasure to be here virtually today in front of your amazing minds of our future generation and the community who has come together as a
002village who will help to continue to push motivate and inspire these young minds students i'm so proud of the young people you're all becoming and i can't wait to see what your future holds i want to recognize that many of us are here today having gone through the last year and a half having dealt with loss with pain illness and many other emotions i want to take a moment to recognize that we may have people who are missing today for many reasons and we would like to honor them if you are missing someone today take a moment to remember a happy memory with them and hold them in your heart know that you are loved and appreciated by so many today we recognize the passing of middle school to high school a rite of passage
003as you make your way to becoming outstanding young adults and while yes you are here to recognize this promotion i think we also need to recognize the strength tenacity and perseverance you all have you have gotten through a full school year of distance learning no other eighth grade class has ever done this i didn't even do this your teachers haven't done this your parents it's different some of you found your stride and some of you may have struggled along the way but guess what you made it there were probably times that you felt defeated but there were also times to celebrate like today i want you to take a moment to reflect on the path you have made for yourself throughout your years here at george what were some obstacles and what were some successes
004now think about what you can do for your future self to ensure you take those successes and you leverage them and take those challenges and learn from them take those lessons with you and recognize the strength you have within yourself those lessons and self-affirmation will be tools for you to use as life throws us curveballs as it does many times and then if i can just leave you with one thing it would be for you all to know that you are amazing for who you are your personality your intelligence your strength and your tenacity stay true to who you are because you are truly amazing so remember those sentiments take what you've learned hold on to that know that you're strong and that you are amazing and you will always have a home here with
005us vikings so go vikings and congratulations to the class of 2021 i would now like to congratulate the student who earned the second highest gpa our salutatorian for the 2021 school year is jade gomez congratulations jade and now the student with the highest ranking gpa in her class our valedictorian is catherine austria guys congratulations catherine now catherine will share a speech with us first and foremost i would like to say that all glory and honor belongs to god for he is the only reason why i'm here presenting this speech to you all today i would like to present to you one of my favorite bible verses that has helped me throughout this year despite the many difficult circumstances philippians 4 13 i can do all things through christ and strengthens me he gave me the
006strength to move forward and succeed when i felt like giving up he gave me hope that there are still many more opportunities to learn and grow from my mistakes i thank you god for being there for me when nobody else was i thank you for never abandoning me i thank you for the knowledge and wisdom i thank you for all that you do and i thank you for all the blessings that you have given to me i thank you jesus for this wonderful opportunity and that i couldn't have done it without you hello everyone my name is catherine ashley austria guidance and i am honored to be the valedictorian of joseph george middle school class of 2021 i would like to thank you all for taking your time to watch the virtual graduation this year
007has been such a great year with everything happening but i would like to thank god for pushing us forward and helping us get through this year together i pray that my fellow classmates and their families are hanging in there and doing well my time here at george was definitely an unforgettable experience to say the least sixth grade fresh out of elementary school running to my classes thinking i'll make it from the dean all the way to the annex with only one minute to spare discovering the beloved staircase that held many memories getting it on the back of my head with this softball the name is really misleading because i tuned it excruciating headache for the rest of the day it was not fun racing to the lunch line whenever it was natural tuesday and loading
008up my tray with lots of jalapenos following trends such as being a biscuit girl looking my lack of these memories really makes me want to sing and i oop sorry and also being concerned about what i wore but i should have been more concerned who had the most bts photo cards seventh grade felt like a blur it just went by so quickly with everything happening like covet and the lockdown the few members i couldn't call were with my friends and i used to have piggyback races and i fell my butt in the moist mud playing extreme shoes are there when another group took our usual hangout spot and i got to play the guitar for one of our units in one of my favorite classes world music 8th grade i really wish i could have
009experienced this last year in person since this is our last year before high school it is unfortunate that we weren't able to make our last few memories together some of us plan on going to different high schools from each other if there is a memory i could recall from this year it would have to be making props for my theater tech class that was very fun thank you mr herrera and mrs chiara for making classes so fun yet educational if i am being 100 honest i am not excited about going to high school for there will be even more expectations i must meet more assignments and less sleep although i am pretty excited about joining clubs learning about new subjects and making new friends i would now like to thank my family for being so
010supportive of me throughout my whole life thank you mama for raising me to strive to be the best version of myself and for always praying for me thank you dad for always being there for me to come for me to comfort me whenever i had pretty rough days thank you to my older brother kevin for always teaching me so many life lessons about the real world thank you to my older sister kimberly for for always helping me throughout the day even though you are busy stressing out with school and thanks to my little dog angel for being my emotional support dog and not eating my homework especially since all the homework is online now thank you miss bigfoot for coordinating our school system leading the students into the direction of success to the faculty thank
011you for giving earl every single day working hard to provide us with an amazing education even though there are days we don't feel like working to the staff thank you for your hard work behind the scenes providing a good learning environment for all our students to each of the family members of the graduating class of 2021 for supporting us i thank you especially to the parents and guardians who sacrifice for us everything you think you see in me everything that i've accomplished everything you think i have is from the grace of god looking back at these three past years felt like a roller coaster of events there were many ups and downs but that is just how we all learn from each other i applaud you all for making it do this during this rough
012year everyone we did it we have officially accomplished one of the major early milestones of our lives today and i just wanted to say i am so proud of all of us and none of our work has gone to waste our next stop high school congratulations to the graduating class of 20 class of 2021 and may you all succeed in the future thank you good luck and god bless you all and enjoy the fun set once a viking always a viking so for the last time go vikings thank you catherine for such a beautiful speech and now on with the grade level awards these students have been nominated by staff for representing the viking spirit in the designated areas for english language arts kevin baginon and adriana torres congratulations for mathematics alejandra sanchez and fanny
013trejo congratulations for social studies angela nunez and moises salcedo congratulations for science kylie baginon and hananiah miguel congratulations for the language learner award michelle silvestre and hong do congratulations for physical education michelle silvestre angela nunez jasmine licia josiah basilio and juan ruiz congratulations for band jesse hawks for choir yadira cruz congratulations for visual arts daniela martinez angela nunez and fernando perez congratulations for theater hananiah miguel and julia delgadillo congratulations and the perseverance award dylan thomas marilyn rivas jasmine murillo castro christian guzman congratulations for most improved we have david morillo castro and marilyn rives congratulations congratulations to all of the award winners now to recognize students promoting with honors you will see these seals next to all of the students promoting who have earned a cumulative gpa of 3.0 or higher students who received a 3.0
014to a 3.49 gpa will have the honor roll emblem as well as receiving an honors certificate students who receive a 3.5 or above will receive an honors certificate a gold cord and will have the high honor roll seal now on to the promoting class of [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] this [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] congratulations again to the class of you did
015it thank you all for attending and have a great day