Heads and hats held high, class 5 students at Apeejay School, Saket, celebrate ‘Graduation Day’

Without continual growth, life would have no meaning. And for those who are willing to succeed, this phase would mean struggle, hard work and change. Celebrating academic excellence throughout a tough Covid-19 phase, students of class 5 at Apeejay School, Saket commemorated the ‘Graduation Ceremony.’

Amidst applause and cheer, teachers and parents welcome the class 5 2021-2022 batch of students who were dressed in graduation robes and hats for the event. To everyone’s surprise, the school Principal, Dr. Sujeet Eric Masih himself donned a robe to celebrate the spirit of success of the students. The Guest of Honour at the event was Ms. Hemanti Mangal, a developmental psychologist and Founder-Director at Healing Nest Foundation, a centre which caters to children and families with developmental disorders.

The ceremony commenced with lighting of the ceremonial lamp by Dr. Sujeet Eric Masih and Ms. Mangal. Shortly after, students performed a soulful rendition of the ‘Saraswati Vandana’ to invoke the blessings of the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. Dr. Masih addressed the gathering, “All parents must bless these children on this momentous occasion. In their graduation attire, they all look smart and confident today. It is their hard work and sweet success for which we are gathered here and it is a proud moment for our school to welcome Ms. Mangal as the guest who is also our school alumni. With these children, we have crossed tentative steps, trials and tribulations coupled with exceptional and magical moments to gather and rejoice their ‘Graduation Day.’ What we have experienced together is just the beginning of their progress and may our students become life-long learners in future! They must enjoy this success but also learn to absorb failure with the zeal to do better.”

After his speech, Dr. Masih presented a plant sapling to Ms. Mangal symbolising growth and success and honouring her presence at the event. To showcase the power of ‘unity in diversity’ of India, students of class 4 danced on the occasion with grace and poise. Saumica Mukherjee and Nikhil shared anecdotes of their school time and spoke about the fond memories with their seniors in grade 5.

Teachers then began to read out citations for every student at the ceremony as students gathered on stage to receive tokens of appreciation from Ms. Mangal and the school Principal. Remembering her alma mater, Ms. Mangal said, “I wish to start my address with gratitude as I feel standing that today, my life has come full circle. In the last two years of the pandemic, students have been home-bound. Therefore, the two years of lag in coming to a physical school and being with their peers has surely impacted their mental well-being in some form or the other. This needs special care from parents and teachers because this period of ‘pre-teen’ is vital for their positive growth. I advise students and parents to practice mindfulness and parents must take out time without their electronic devices to be with their children. Students must be dealing with a lot of bodily changes, confidence and self-worth issues, so start talking to each other and share your feelings.”

The Junior Head Boy and Head Girl of the school, Dhruv H. Malhotra and Isba Naaz,thanked their Primary teachers for their support and comfort during the online classes as they highlighted how the new school year and new session will be full of opportunities.

Concluding the event, Ms. Geetika Sehgal, the Primary-in-charge of the school, delivered the Vote of Thanks and appreciated parents for having taken out time to be part of the joyous ceremony.