Alec's High School Graduation

 All the students had to be at graduation an hour early, and in fact Alec's class of culinary students had to be at the school an hour and a half early since the Chef's culinary awards had not come in on time for him to hand them out earlier in the day as he had planned. 

Alec had just enough time to come home from school, decompress and tell me all about his day, where to sit, what to expect, etc. then he dressed and headed out. 

We got to the school at 4 and were able to sit right where Alec explained to me. 

Promptly at 5 the students proceeded in and luckily Alec is so tall he was easy to spot!

They started with the pledge and then this girl sang the national anthem acapella and did an amazing job!

They had a few short speeches by the principal, the class president, the salutatorian and (pictured below) their valedictorian. 

Diploma recipients are called up by shop and names are read off in alphabetical order much like at a college graduation so I knew when to expect Alec and all his friends (though I did miss a few of them)..

Not sure if you noticed but all his friends (and the person handing him his diploma) all looked down the center aisle where the photographer was set up but Alec knew where I was sitting and that I had my own camera so he looked right at me and smiled. 

The graduates on the other side of the aisle cross the stage in the opposite directions so the photos of his friends that are in hairdressing didn't turn out nearly as well. 

But in no time at all they were moving their tassels..

and tossing caps

in fact they kept catching them and tossing them again; over and over. 

The students were dismissed first and each group headed to their own shop to pick up the actual diploma paper as they really had only been given the diploma holder during the ceremony. 

We took photos with family and friends-- inside because it was pouring out!

My mother in law and my mom

My step-father

I LOVED seeing all the decorated caps!

Alec really hit it off with the hairdressing teacher his freshman year and nearly picked hairdressing. He stopped in to visit her every single day!

We realized once we were home we never got a photo of him with Chef but Alec reminded me that part of the awards and gifts chef gave them included a group photo from their field trip earlier in the year (as well as a very nice Ellis Tech Alumni sweatshirt and an Ellis Tech weekender bag). 

He also got this culinary medal that was given to the whole class and the Chef's award for always going above and beyond in his work. 

We were in the car and headed back home by 6:30 so all in all it was a pretty short ceremony and a quick night! 

You can read about his graduation party here if you missed yesterday's post.

Linking up with: Tuesdays with a Twist, Spread the Kindness/On the Edge,