Best Wishes to You, Kids!

At a secondary school, a child spends a minimum of 5 years before he or she graduates. These days, it is very common for secondary schools to organise graduation ceremonies in honour of their school leavers. And 3 Saturdays ago, I attended a very grand one, organised by one of the premiere schools in Miri. It was held at a hotel, and the graduating students wore graduation robes and even mortar boards!

My school, however, does not organise graduations for the fifth formers. So far, graduations are reserved for the sixth formers. Nevertheless, I think it is worth exploring the idea of having both fifth and sixth formers graduating together in an event.

This year, we have 3 classes of Form 5. I teach 2 of those classes. I have been teaching this batch for only a year. But I love these kids. In the first class, the kids are such a joy to teach. They are keen learners, and it makes me want to go all out to help them get good results for the coming examination.

In the second class, the kids are rowdy, naughty and cheeky. But then, I have a soft spot for naughty and cheeky students. This class is really outspoken, and so lessons are never dull. It has been fun to teach them throughout the year.

Today, we held a simple ceremony in school, so that we are able to bless these kids as they prepare to sit for their examination next week. We invited their parents, and it was really encouraging to see so many parents turning up.

At the end of the ceremony, the students were supposed to "salam" with all the teachers, and that was when people started crying. Sigh. Including me.

I'm really sad to see the kids leaving, as soon as they finish their SPM. But of course, I should not clip their wings as it is time for them to fly away from their nest to explore the bigger world out there.

I wish them all the very best of luck in the examinations, and of course, in their future undertakings.

Good luck, kids!!