i'm not sure why it's taken me almost a week to write about alyssa's 8th grade graduation ceremony. it was such an awesome night, and i was so proud of her. i'm actually more emotional now, then i was that night. i held it together that night, and only got a little teary eyed about a half hour before the ceremony. you could just feel the excitement in the air, and it got the best of me. and then i was fine. but now? i'm actually tearing up as i type this. and i have teared up every time i've gone to edit these photos. mainly because i'm just so dang proud of my girl!

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doesn't she look gorgeous up there! you'd never know it by looking at this picture, but we had her hair so curly and cute. however, her hair just doesn't hold the curl. it still looked great though. she had the prettiest dress, that was quite a lot of work to decide on. she wanted to wear heels, to make her a tad bit taller. she's still such a tiny thing. although she wasn't actually the smallest in her class this time. there were a few boys shorter than her. it worked out though, since the order they walked in was determined by height. so that put her in the front row 🙂

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they had the opening part of the ceremony, and a few great speeches gave by fellow classmates. then they got to the honor roll students. the students on honor roll for the year were wearing the double silver cords. a good sized group of students. then there were 7 students (out of 96) that held a 4.0 GPA for the entire 8th grade year, and they wore the gold sash. alyssa was one of those students. they were all honored with engraved plaques.

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then they moved on to the outstanding achievement awards for each subject. there was language arts, social studies, science, algebra, drama, choir, and band. alyssa picked up a nice engraved plaque for excellence in language arts 🙂

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then she sat down. and then she got called back up. took another engraved plaque for excellence in algebra 🙂

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then she sat down. you see where i'm going with this? she got called right back up. took home another engraved plaque for excellence in social studies 🙂

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yes, my girl sort of swept the awards that night! 4 total. and 3 of the 7 subject awards (the hard subjects). and i'm totally fine bragging on it, because she earned it. school does come naturally to her. she enjoys it, and she's extremely self-motivated. but she also works her tush off to get the grades she does. she's read a trillion books this school year (give or take a few), she studies like crazy, and goes above and beyond whenever she can. these awards might also be what saved me from getting too emotional that night. i was too busy WHOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO'ing it up for my girl, to think too much about it all. lol!

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sorry. had to go to the house to get the photo of her with her awards. lol! back over to the ceremony. after the awards, the moved onto to the promotion certificates. they called out each student, who came up and received their "certificate". which was really just blank inside. they had to wait until friday, to get the real thing. this was her walking out. she walked in a jr high schooler, and walked out a high schooler. wow!

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it was pure madness outside, after the ceremony. kids everywhere, families everywhere, camera's everywhere. and most of my shots turned out super blurry and dark. but i got this good one of alyssa and one of her BFF's, kassidy. every morning, at 8:10am, kassidy has come by the side door on her way to school. and she comes inside, and waits for alyssa and sarah to finish getting ready. and they all walk  together.

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i love that alyssa has genuinely good and nice friends. and it makes me feel even better, that most of her close friends are going to the same high school as her. quite a lot of students from her class, are headed out to another high school in town. so i'm glad she'll have some familar faces, of good kids 🙂

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and this was on the front page of the newspaper the following morning! i love that it says "honor roll and 4.0 grade point average student alyssa accepts one of her many awards" 😉

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36 responses to “alyssa’s graduation”

  1. Lynn Avatar

    Laura,
    Love, love, love the pictures of Alyssa – I’m very proud for you! What fantastic accomplishments! Amazing!

    Like

  2. dawn Avatar
    dawn

    Wow what an amazing night for your family. It must have been like the Emmy’s. Congratulations Alyssa for doing so good. What a great honor, you must have been beaming the whole night. I love the pictures, her hair is pretty and love the shoes. How cool to be in the newspaper also, love what they said about her. You must be so very proud of her. Does she know what she wants to do when she’s done with school? What kind of school does she go to? We don’t have any thing like this for the 8th graders, just an honors breakfast at 6:00 in the morning before school starts to get a certificate saying you made honor roll all year, that’s it. Your school seems to do some amazing things with their children which is a good thing. Congratulations again to all of you.

    Like

  3. Keisha Avatar
    Keisha

    You should brag on her, what an accomplishment!

    Like

  4. Kelly Rodgers Avatar

    That’s so awesome Laura.
    Congratulations Alyssa xxx

    Like

  5. jill Avatar
    jill

    wow Alyssa – congratulations and well done for all your hard work!

    Like

  6. Natalie Avatar

    It is so fun to hear you brag about your daughter– you have every right to be proud of her! Congratulations to her for her many awards 🙂 And Alyssa, your wonderful work ethic will stand you in good stead through the rest of your schooling (and life, really). Great work!!

    Like

  7. marissa Avatar
    marissa

    Wow! Congratulations to Alyssa! I remember sitting behind Deneen when her girls won all of their awards- definitely a proud mama moment!

    Like

  8. Karina Avatar
    Karina

    WOW!!! Congrats to Alyssa, and of course congrats to her family too!!! I always say that when kids are that good, there is always an excellent family behind supporting them !!! Excelent job,Laura!!!

    Like

  9. Marianne Avatar

    This is incredible, Laura! I’m an 8th grade teacher, so I can tell you that when students like Alyssa come along, the teachers have almost as much pride in them as their parents do. 🙂 She must be a very bright and special girl!

    Like

  10. lynda p Avatar
    lynda p

    congratulations to your daughter! she has certainly worked hard and it shows. how nice the newspaper story. congrats to mom and dad too. i’ll be in your shoes next friday. even though it’s a promotion….we don’t get gowns… :(. silly i know. thanks for sharing…

    Like

  11. Staci Avatar

    What an amazing girl you have! I actually started to get teary-eyed just reading this. I guess I am imagining how I will be when my dd finishes 6th grade 🙂

    Like

  12. Michele Marshall Avatar
    Michele Marshall

    Wow! What a night. I have been a lurker for quite a while, but thought it was time I respond to one of your posts. Congratulations to you and your family.

    Like

  13. Suzanne Sergi Avatar

    Wow!!! Amazing!!! You go Alyssa!! What a fantastic evening for all of you!!
    Congratulations to your sweet girl!!! Woohooo!!!

    Like

  14. Sandra Avatar
    Sandra

    Way to go Alyssa!!! You have many folks that are so proud of you. My favorite part was seeing so many pictures of Alyssa with the biggest smile on her face. You can work hard and have fun too. Congratulations to the entire family.

    Like

  15. Ashley M Avatar

    Congratulations on having such an awesome kid! 🙂 Wow, she is even in the newspaper…too cool!

    Like

  16. wendy myers Avatar

    That is truly amazing you should be so so proud! It’s nice when things come naturally for kids and they don’t have to strugle with school. Makes moms job alot easier!
    Just smile and say thats my girl!

    Like

  17. Leslie Avatar
    Leslie

    WOW!WOW!WOW!WOW!WOW!WOW!WOW!WOW!
    Truly amazing and wonderful accomplishments – congrats to her (and her parents!) Funny how they hardly look old enough for HS!

    Like

  18. Melinda Avatar
    Melinda

    Awesome! You should be bragging on your girl! Thanks for letting us know so we can share in your joy. What to go Alyssa! Go and conquer High School. You have a great future ahead of you.

    Like

  19. Deneen Avatar

    I remember how wonderful it felt when Heather and Holly swept the awards at their 8th grade graduation and I don’t think I will ever forget how proud I was at that moment so I expect you were feeling that too! I was so proud of Alyssa and actual cut out the photo from the paper and here it sits on my desk waiting until I see you so I can give you another copy LOL!!!! One can never have too many copies now can they?
    Congrats Alyssa I am so very proud of you!

    Like

  20. Kim M Avatar
    Kim M

    What a special night and you have every right to brag, she did awesome. I am so thrilled for you and her and how cool that it made it into the paper, congrats!

    Like

  21. Eileen Van Dyke Avatar
    Eileen Van Dyke

    Congrats on your super smart daughter. Isn’t it just amazing how fast they grow up!

    Like

  22. katemeri Avatar
    katemeri

    Wow! Thanks for sharing! Congratulations Alyssa!!!

    Like

  23. Loriann Avatar
    Loriann

    She is darling. good for her and what a proud day for her mamma..

    Like

  24. Carla Avatar

    congrats to Alyssa, she is such a bright girl. I know you’re a proud mama…
    And she looks so grown up 🙂

    Like

  25. lorry Avatar
    lorry

    Woot Woot! you should brag and be proud Laura. I totally agree with Sandra’s comment above. It truly was great to see Alyssa smiling so much, I can tell from your comments she has worked really hard to earn these achievements and she should celebrate. Congratulations to Alyssa and you for helping her get there!

    Like

  26. Diana Avatar

    way to go Alyssa!! She is such a beauty looking SO grown up! My alyisa is going into 7th! Crazy how they grow up SO fast!

    Like

  27. Amy Avatar
    Amy

    Congrats, Alyssa! You look soo beautiful in your pics!!!! congrats, too, Mama!!!

    Like

  28. ZoezMom Avatar

    WOW!! Congratulations, Alyssa! Momma, you should be bragging and so very proud! Great pictures, they sure show the excitement in her eyes.

    Like

  29. Sandi N. Avatar
    Sandi N.

    Laura
    She is just amazing…you know I think you are rubbing off on her:)
    Sandi N.

    Like

  30. Tiffany Avatar

    Ah! LOVE these photos, what a proud momma you are! So special!

    Like

  31. Kathy (krolski) Avatar

    That’s so GREAT Laura! Big Congrats to Alyssa! She’s beautiful and SMART! You are doing a great job raising her.

    Like

  32. Brenda H Avatar

    what a smartie pants! I’m sure she takes after you – right?? What a proud moment for mama – and in the paper too! COngratulations Alyssa!

    Like

  33. Sara Rossi Avatar

    You have every reason to be proud!! She did an amazing job!! WAY TO GO ALYSSA!! CONGRATULATIONS!!
    BTW–I think Alyssa even looks older in these pics too!

    Like

  34. Uncle Bob Avatar
    Uncle Bob

    Alyssa,
    I can remember when Meagan and Rachael graduated from 8th grade too. But you have run away with the award thing! I am one proud uncle!!!!!!!!!! You did really great. Keep it up and you’ll be able to be what ever you want to be in life. Let Jesus shine too in your heart and life and don’t be afraid to share Him with others.We are so proud of you!!

    Like

  35. lisa Avatar
    lisa

    Ok this made ME teary eyed and I’ve never even MET Alyssa!!! Congratulations on all these accomplishments. She’ll do just fine in high school, I’m sure!

    Like

  36. Shaun Paddock Avatar

    This is so cool! Alyssa, you should be very proud of yourself. This is quite an accomplishment and you deserve the awards and recognition! Keep up the good work! Congratulations!

    Like

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