Yesterday being Saturday was a very special day in my school. It happened to be a graduation party day for the pupils and students who are moving to the next level of their education, especially the elementary primary 5 pupils who will be moving to the high school junior secondary (JSS 1 classes), and JSS 3 students who will be moving to high school Senior Secondary (SSS1). The party was indeed a memorable one.
At first, we thought the graduation wouldn't hold because it rained heavily that day from morning, around 7am untill about 2pm in the afternoon. That was when the rain subsided. We were all worried and thought that people wouldn't turn out for the occasion and the whole celebration would be cancelled but to our surprise, as soon as the rain stopped, parents and people started coming.
The arrangement of the canopies and chairs was done inside the rain. Even though the rain was still falling when we were arranging the chairs and canopies, we didn’t stop. My whole body got soaked, and I was literally shivering because of how cold I was. Smoke was coming from my body because of how cold it was. But we thank God that the rain later stopped, and by around 3pm, the event finally started.
The program began with the graduating students marching in and dancing with their beautiful graduation gowns. After that, the MC welcomed everyone and introduced the special guests that were present. Then the opening prayer, followed by speeches from the school proprietor, the principal, and the headmistress.
After all the speeches, the cultural dancers came out and gave us a wonderful show. They were so amazing. Their dance steps were very neat and they were all dancing in the same manner. They danced in the same direction and at the same time with their colourful clothes. Some parents came out to spray money on them and dance with them too.
Next came the quiz and debate club. They presented a debate on the topic AI has made students lazy instead of smarter. The group that said AI has made students smarter won the debate. They gave very strong points. Their performance was wonderful.
After the debate and quiz club, the drama club came and displayed their performance too. They acted a play on how some parents neglect their children when they come back from school without checking their notebooks to see if there is any assignment given to the students neither checking to see what was taught to the students in class. Some parents don't allow their children to rest after school. When students come from school, instead of resting the parents will send the children to the farm or work or do any work. Because of this, the children don’t get enough time to rest or read their books at home.
Next was the press club. They came up and acted like news presenters. They did it so well as if they were professionals in the field. One of the news that got everyone talking was about how our leaders went and borrow another money from other countries, and now the country owes over 200 trillion naira debt, but there's nothing to show for it. Many people were not happy when they heard this.
After the press club finished casting their news, some students came up and presented a speech about the First Nigerian military coup, the reasons for the coup and how many generals were killed during that period.
After that, the various cultural groups came in dressed in their various attire that represents their culture. We have the Tiv, Eggon, Mada and other cultures.
After that, the graduating students came out and did their own presentation. They sang songs and danced to entertain their parents.
We were privileged to have some dignitaries in our midst, a member of the House of Assembly representing Eastern constituency of the Local Government and the chancellor of the community present at the occasion too. They both gave speeches and presented some gifts to the school.
After that, the presentation of gifts to the best and outstanding students came up. The top three persons from each class were presented with gifts alongside those who are always punctual to school, and the neatest students.
Also, one of our corps member who has rounded up his service period in our school also received a gift as he is about to leaving.
After all the performances and gifts, the principal came up to give the closing remarks. She thanked all the parents and guests for coming, even with the heavy rain.
Finally, the students’ results were shared so everyone could see how they performed and where they need to improve.
It was a great day, and we thank God everything ended well. We hope next year’s graduation will be even better.
Thanks for stopping by!!!