This past Saturday night, the Upper School students had a massive outdoor party at Champs de Mars. That is a large park area at the base of the Eiffel Tower.  It is a stunning location under the Tower and many tourists and locals hang out there on the grass around the fountains.  The party was great fun for the kids;  it is the one they got in from just ahead of us at 3am on the Saturday night.

Then on the Sunday, it was ‘graduation day’ for Greg and we all got dressed and toasted to Greg, before leaving (by uber of course) at 4pm to go over to the beautiful LaFayette memorial in Parc St. Cloud. What a fantastic back drop for his graduation! It really was perfect weather with calm skies and warm temperatures (25 degrees).  Truly a gorgeous day to sit outside and watch the ceremony.

 

There were fantastic speakers, Glenn Keane (Disney Oscar winner) and Rodney Ingram   (Actor/Singer from Broadway), that were moving and inspirational.  Raoul actually sung a Phantom of the Opera song with another famous broadway singer for us and it was amazing! All of the speakers were interesting and the traditions of being marched in and out to music as well as throwing their caps off at the end ~ all of it was so memorable.

During the award ceremony, we were all awestruck when the most important and prestigious award was introduced and Greg won it (award and 3000 euro scholarship)!! They had not forewarned us that he had been chosen to win from the 28 that applied, and when the announcer began describing the award winner, it sounded to me like Greg, and then more and more like Greg, so I grabbed my phone and began to tape…and then of course, in the end, it was Greg they called to the stage! Wow!! What an incredibly proud moment, that made us think about all he has accomplished. The speech was touching and he was just so happy about this award and scholarship called the Lyle-Nicoll award that we couldn’t have been more proud. The words spoken were all true of Greg’s efforts and successes in high school and we printed them to attach to the award.  Through all the trials of high school, he persevered and was always admired by peers and teachers alike. We were often given compliments on his character and attitude at school, so way to go Greg!!! This award was for school leadership, high academic pursuits and service in the greater community. Greg had worked on a few different service clubs (Kalahari Education Experience and Compassion Without Borders) and raised money and materials to  feed and clothe refugees living on the streets in Paris. He volunteered as an English teaching assistant on Saturdays and tutored a French family in English in Garches (they needed to learn English to move to USA in June). He was involved in sports and was seen as a top athlete and strong student. He truly set an example to others and we could not have been more proud of him on this day!

None of the feelings on this day would have been the same though, without uncle Kelly there!! He made Greg’s smile twice as big just by being there with him to witness the award and to celebrate his graduation with all of us!! Thank you for flying over Kelly!! We all enjoyed the graduation weekend as much as Greg I think !!

Here are more photos from the day: