I separated the awards day posts because each kid did some great things this year and each deserves their own individual recognition.
They didn't rank the kids this year. I already knew his GPA was 98.25%, and that is really awesome. That's all I needed to know, that's all Justice needed to know.
They announced the "Principal's List" first, which is the A Honor Roll. Yay Bubbie!
Then they announced the A-B Honor Roll, then they moved on to the big award, "The Principal's Award".
Not more than two sentences in to the Principal's talk about the person he was giving the award to, I sincerely started crying. I knew it was Justice. I'm almost crying just typing this. The kind words that were being said about Justice really touched my heart. I remember some key points, and they were:
"funny"
"tender hearted"
"great personality"
"kind"
"intelligent"
"intellectual"
"humble beyond words"
"athletic"
"proud of his school"
"talented"
"one heck of a football player for a little guy"
"a student to be proud of"
"community leader"
"spiritual"
Once he got to tenderhearted, I lost it. That's when I knew it was Justice, and never in my wildest imagination did I even think twice about him receiving that award. I was too caught up in just making sure his tender heart was protected from the evil girl at school that it just never occurred to me. What really struck me the most though, was the student body. During the principal's speech I could hear Justice's name being muttered by some of the kids. "It's Justice" or "He's talking about Justice", and when he got to the "he's one heck of a football player for a little guy", the football players started hollering his name from the top row, LOL. He immediately got a standing ovation from the students. They were whistling, clapping, and were genuinely happy for him. All of them. The athletes, the thugs, the nerds, the whole lot of them. All the teachers came to hug him, and when the principal was talking, he got choked up himself. I was crying my eyes completely out. No lie.
It's a good feeling to know your son is so loved by so many people.
After the awards ceremony. On a side note, are those not the skinniest legs you've ever seen?
Photo with the Principal (right), and the Assistant Principal (left).
Sweet Bubbie, I am so happy for you. What a great kid you are, and such a hard worker. I love you so much and I am so happy to be your Mama.
I am so sorry he had such a rough time with that girl. I can't imagine how wound up she must be to feel that's appropriate behavior for an entire year. I loved the list they complied to describe Justice. I can't think of better words for him. He is such a wonderful example to everyone around him, kids and adults alike. I'm not sure if your school does it this way, but at the school I worked for the Principal's Award was actually nominated by teachers and the speech was pulled from those nominations. So if your school does it the same way that adds another layer of awesome to think about because that means (and for Justice I bet) more than one teacher nominated him and wrote those things about him. He is truly a special young man.
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