Heather’s school held their 8th-grade promotion ceremony in the evening on the last day of school (May 28). The weather turned out to be just about perfect–blistering hot temperatures are generally more common at the end of May than perfect temperatures. So that saved Heather from coping with overheating in her gown.
Out of her class of ~140 kids, Heather received the “Presidential Award for Academic Excellence” (the pin on her lapel, about 30 students; criteria unspecified), honor roll recognition for maintaining a 4.0 GPA for all 3 years (the medal; middle school here is grades 6-8) and department awards for algebra (3 students), orchestra (2 students), and core (5 students; core includes English & history). Next year she’ll be going to Livermore High School where her class size will grow to ~450 students. For next year, she has already auditioned for and been accepted into the intermediate, honors orchestra.





