Nia's Graduation Speech

Good morning, Dr. Balamore, teachers, parents, classmates, and friends. This has been a journey of hard work and mind-bending corrections, but along the way I have gathered lots of friends. This is the story of my journey at GMS.

I was attending a public school in Philadelphia, when I visited GMS. I saw the work they did and how the school was peaceful and no one was being mean and I liked that.

The first day of school, I was overwhelmed with fear because I didn’t know anyone, but once Ella Cohen started talking to me I felt better. There were five 4^th grade girls in our class: Ella, Emily, Nicole, Meredith, and me. Mrs. L. was our teacher and we had the best class in the school.

The first couple of days we didn’t do much but the next week was much different. We started doing science reports, pin maps, and math lessons. By the middle of the school year I was well known throughout the school and I had a lot of friends, both kids and teachers.

So let’s skip summer and move to 5^th grade. We changed classrooms; we got bumped downstairs into a new classroom. So we had 4^th and 5^th graders in our class and it was ok.

We no had 12 kids in our class and two teachers, Mrs. L. and Mr. Nord. That’s when I became friends with Kevin Kelly. I enjoyed having the boys in our class so we could play hard.

My third year here at GMS we had 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th graders in our class. We got a new teacher, Mrs. Mehta, to work along with Mrs. L. This year my highlights are the talent show, Camp Onas, and the 6^th grade trip. The Talent Show was the best. Dante and I did a Basketball Dunk Off and Crystina and I performed a cup beat. That day I got a lot of compliments from different people.

I had not been able to go to Camp Onas for the first two years because I had acting and dancing classes. You know what? I’m glad I could go this year because it was fun, and I overcame some of my fears.

The 6^th grade trip was the best. I liked selling bagels and counting money. I felt important. Traveling to Baltimore in a Limo is just straight up style, and the Aquarium was good but not as good as the Limo ride!

I’m glad I was able to come to GMS and I would like to thank all the people that work here, Dr. Balamore, and all the kids who embraced me. They helped me do things I couldn’t possibly think of doing.

I will always miss this school and I hope that this school will miss me as much as I will miss it. Thank you.