8th Grade Celebration
You're Off to Great Places! Today is Your Day!
Message from Mrs. Nakamura:
Congratulations 8th graders! It is with great pride that I celebrate with you a milestone in your life: leaving middle school and embarking on yet another fantastic journey to high school. Since you were in the 6th grade, we’ve thrown around key words such as growth mindset, grit, perseverance, limitless, passion, and curiosity. During this COVID-19 pandemic, there is no greater opportunity to put those words into action than during the 3rd trimester of your 8th grade year. Psychology Today (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/resilience, 2020) defines resilience as, “The psychological quality that allows some people to be knocked down by the adversities of life and come back at least as strong as before. Rather than letting difficulties, traumatic events, or failure overcome them and drain their resolve, highly resilient people find a way to change course, emotionally heal, and continue moving toward their goals.” You are the perfect example of resilience! We didn’t end the school year as planned; we didn’t do the same activities that we’ve done for the past five years. However, you are paving a path that no one has ever seen before and that makes you limitless. My young pioneers, remember this: YOU are the first class to experience distance learning; YOU are the first class to participate in a drive-by 8th grade celebration; YOU are the first class to survive a global pandemic; YOU are the first class to do things differently. The key words above are character traits that I hope you take with you wherever you go in life. We will celebrate and say goodbye on June 10th (11:45-1pm). Your teachers and other staff members will cheer for you as you drive by Obsidian Middle School one last time and I will proudly give you your middle school certificate, closing this chapter in your life. You have all the tools needed to be successful in the future and the mindset to be unstoppable! Go and shake the world class of 2024.
A hui hou, malama pono (take care, until we meet again),
Mrs. Nakamura
Friends Forever!
Lucas Killingbeck
Mrs. Moore- ART
To the 2020 8th Grade class:
My greatest sorrow is to end the school year not being able to see you and let you know how much each of you has impacted me. My greatest joy is thinking about all of the memories that I have of you in my classroom. There is no ART without all of your HEARTS. I wish you the best in high school and the challenges and joys that it will bring. Please send me images of Art that you make. It doesn't have to be something you made in a class. I just want to see how you are being creative. It makes me smile every time. I will miss you.
Mrs. Moore
Chloe Haavisto
Ayana Martin
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"-Martin Luther King Jr.
"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I'm not"- Kurt Cobain
Alivia Engles
When the going gets tough
The tough call their friends
Aidan Waterman
Mr. Pearson
Hello soon to be Freshman,
If this year has taught us anything, it’s that nothing is certain and nothing should be taken for granted. There’s so many ways to learn this lesson about life and while this trimester has not been easy, there’s at least some silver lining.
You have already learned that nothing in school is guaranteed. Things we think are permanent tradition, and promised to us can be taken away without any notice.
As you take this next step into young adulthood, such uncertainty can be scary, but I also encourage you to see it as an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to seize every possibility, an opportunity to get involved in school, the community and life; an opportunity to grow as an individual, and an opportunity to make a difference.
Your generation will lead the world in it’s next greatest steps. You will make the world a better place than you found it. You will make the world better for my children and the generations to follow. This is a lot of responsibility, and I want you to know that your work starts now. However, I also want you to know that YOU will be amazing and we BELIEVE in you.
Enjoy your summer break, you deserve it! Then, hit the ground running next year. We look forward to hearing about all of your accomplishments, your successes and we will be there when you need someone to lean on.
Sincerely,
Mr. Pearson