Good morning everyone. My years at GMS have been so wonderful I must thank… (pulls out a long piece of paper and then looks at it questioningly). You know, maybe it's best I'm not to be detailed when thanking people in my speech. You see, if I were to thank people for my success I'd have to thank every single student, parent, teacher, and staff member. It's your support that kept me going through these five years. I first started GMS at the age of four in Maggie's class and like many others, work I remember most is the many things to do with beads. I loved to spend my time making big long chains for hours on end. I quickly became friends with Alexandra Silvera and Katie Cooper. We were always together no matter what. Like one day I refused to play babysitter; I wanted to play with worms. So we compromised: I built a house and gathered the worms, and then Katie babysat them. Then next year I was an all-dayer. It was one of the best years of my life, because I knew I was the oldest in the class and I could boss everyone around. That's when I became friends with Sarah Coyne. She was a year younger than me and I really enjoyed helping her with her work. I remember time to time our assistant teacher would bring string cheese and piece by piece she'd pee the cheese and we'd stand under and fight for it. This was what I thought would be my last year of school at GMS, but after just three years at the French International School, I was back. This time not in Maggie's class but in Mrs. L. and Mrs. Mehta's Upper El class. Now Katie, Alexandra and Sarah were all gone and so I made many new friends like Reeta, Tiaura, Bianca, and Crystina. I learned a lot of new things I hadn't known before. My favorite work was always creating my own island, even though I didn't get to do it much, but I loved it.

The next year I was a 5th grader making friends with Eleanor, Caroline, Andrew, Danny, and Natalie. We liked to call ourselves ReeCaJasElNat, a crazy mixture of Reeta, Caroline, Jaslyn, Eleanor, and Natalie. As 5th graders, we were very lucky since there was only one 6th grader. We got to do many sixth grade activities, but now we get the full package: all the 6th grade activities. With the fourth grade friends like Maddie, Elizabeth, Rachel, Rebecca, Lachlan, and Amity, I feel great.

It hasn't really sunk in yet that I'll be leaving forever. I just keep telling myself I'll be back in three years, but the truth is it won't happen. So as I begin to say goodbye, my heart opens up and lets all the great and wonderful memories sink in where they will lie for the rest of my life.

Thank you.

Jaslyn will attend The Baldwin School