Blogger to bragger?

*PROUD PARENT ALERT* (If you can't stand that sort of thing, look away now.)

School's out.  Just a half day of mucking about for the Boy, though he did get the news that he has been promoted to "Accelerated Math" after many weeks of effort in his own time, with help from his dad, to get ahead in this subject.  Yay - well done, Boy!

The rest of us found ourselves in the High School gym this morning for the 8th Graders' Moving Up ceremony. 425 students plus a full complement of parents/grandparents made for a packed room.  The students processed in to Land of Hope and Glory played by the 8th Grade band (a surprising choice of music - just for us?  Surely not).  There were speeches by representatives of the school district and by the Middle School principal. And then prizes.

Totally without warning, the Girl was announced as a winner of the school's Principal Award for Artistic Expression.  So those lovingly illustrated school projects, too often the result of her pulling unsanctioned all-nighters, have not gone unrecognized!  We're delighted for her.  Here she is (if you're sharp-eyed enough) standing up to be acknowledged.

Every student was invited up to shake the hands of the School Board members and to receive a white envelope containing their certificate of surviving Middle School moving on to High School.  Also in that envelope, for some, was an additional certificate - bearing the signature of President Barack Obama.  The President's Award for Educational Excellence recognizes three years of high attainment, plus a top score at State level in English or Math.  And yes, our Girl got one of those, and yes, we're tremendously proud of her.