CON-GRAD-ULATIONS - ACS Egham

14/06/2019

CON-GRAD-ULATIONS

Graduation celebrations were a huge success at ACS Egham for the class of 2019 Students at ACS Egham International School celebrated the end of their final year and completion of their academic endeavours at a graduation ceremony on Friday 31 May.

In the presence of family members, friends, faculty and staff, 52 students, aged between 17-18 years, officially completed their intensive academic courses. Pupils followed the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme – a broad, internationally recognised qualification that lends itself to continuing in higher education at universities worldwide. Student diplomas were presented by Jeremy Lewis, the Head of School and The Worshipful The Mayor of the Borough of Runnymede, Cllr. Sohi.

The graduation ceremony also included several awards recognising the students’ outstanding achievements throughout their time at ACS Egham. Natalya Williams took home both the Leadership Award and the Founders Award, which are given for taking initiative through to fruition and for demonstrating academic excellence, consistent involvement in extra-curricular and school life. Jeremy Lewis, Head of School at ACS Egham, said:

Graduation is always one of the biggest highlights of our year. We are so pleased to be celebrating our students’ success at ACS Egham, whilst remembering all their personal achievements and experiences.

“We have high hopes for all the students’ exciting future prospects. I am so very proud of every student, and this is one of the most enjoyable parts of working at ACS Egham for the teaching staff.” Amongst the awards, Yu Young Lee was named as 2019 Valedictorian recognising her outstanding academic achievement and her high standards of planning, diligence and commitment to all her studies. Japheth Monzon was presented with the ECIS Award for International Understanding for having a positive attitude towards the life and cultures of others, speaks at least 2 languages with the ability to bring differing people together in a sense of community; and Habiba Arafah took the Alderdice Citizenship Award for being considerate, thoughtful and polite in actions, attitude and presence to create a caring community. IB Diploma ART student, Anika Juen, was also selected by a committee of faculty, the High School Student Council and High School administrators for this year’s High School Student Council Art Appreciation Award for her work entitled ‘Boy bitten by Lizard, Renewed’. The piece was on display during the ceremony.

The keynote guest speaker at this year’s graduation ceremony was David Thomas, former Chairman for ACS International Schools. His speech touched upon being ready for what comes next and being open to different things as sometimes your path may go in a direction you were not expecting. Thomas’ advice to the graduating class was to say “yes” to more opportunities even if you are not entirely sure how you will achieve it!

A similar message was given by the students speakers, Perlei Toor was elected to speak for the class by her Peers, Ben Jose made the Graduate Speech and Yu Young Lee spoke as the Valedictorian. The students spoke about their time at ACS Egham, thanked their teachers and parents for all their support and talked about their journey yet to come by utilising all the skills they learned whilst studying the IB such as critical thinking, being a risk-taker and being a life long learner. “Graduation was a wonderful experience,” said valedictorian, Yu Young Lee. “It was everything we hoped it would be after such a lot of hard work. We will all treasure our school memories from ACS – the community spirit, the opportunity to grow and learn, the friendships we have made. I can’t think of a better place to study on the path to university. I feel totally prepared for the next step.”

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