Middle School Promotion
On June 5, 2015, 99 eighth-grade students gathered on the amphitheater stage to celebrate an important milestone: the end of their Middle School career.
The 2015 Middle School promotion celebrated both individual and class accomplishments.
Middle School Director Colleen O’Boyle shared that in a recent project, she asked the Class of 2019 what they dreamed of becoming in the future. The range of responses included a CEO, chef, engineer, happy person, happy engineer, astrophysicist, doctor, professional baseball player, philosopher, professional soccer player and neurologist.
“Let this ask be more than a probing question,” she said to the class. “Let it be an indication that each of you has started a journey toward being the best version of yourself. Over the course of the next four years, I ask that you remind yourself to think less about what you are learning and more about why you are learning, and how you can use, create or transform this into something that others can benefit from.”
Student speaker, Sydney Gray ’19, recipient of the Balmer Award for Citizenship, took the time to thank the La Jolla Country Day School teachers. “Our teachers constantly show us where to look, but they never tell us where to see,” she said. “By setting positive examples for us, they constantly motivate us to be the best versions of ourselves and I thank them for that.”
The reflection address given by Middle School Guidance Counselor Ashley Marlow drew four life lessons and words of wisdom from the Harry Potter series. Marlow who started her work at Country Day when the Class of 2019 entered as fifth graders, remembers the fond memories of having deep discussions about the Harry Potter series with her students.
“What I love about the Harry Potter series is that it has taught important life lessons to generations of readers,” she said. “The overall message is that there is always hope. Class of 2019, I encourage you to hang onto the hope that things will always get better, that you will make it through tough times, and that the world is a wonderful place full of good people."
President of the Board of Trustees Manish Parikh presented the Trustees’ Awards to the students with the highest cumulative GPA for the Grade 7 and 8 school years to Matthew Goldschmidt, Sydney Gray, Ryan Lamkin, Amanda Nance, Raquel Ramirez, Rachel Ruggera, Brooke Seay, John “Jack” Shimkin and Newland Zhang.
Interim Head of School Dr. Judy Fox honored Raquel Ramirez and John “Jack” Shimkin with the Faculty Prizes for having best demonstrated the ideas and spirit of La Jolla Country Day School through effort and character, scholarship, arts and athletics.
After accepting their certificate, students greeted and thanked faculty members before heading off to enjoy their summer vacation. Congratulations, Class of 2019!
