Change Will Be The Theme as 8th Graders Graduate

Embracing change will be the theme as Board of Education members pass on advice to eighth graders who are graduating today from the four K-8 schools. About 80 to 100 students are graduating at each campus, and Patch has a preview of some of the guidance they will receive.

“You will physically be changing your location but you will also be changing your responsibilities and expectations socially, academically and physically,” Vice President Brian Goldberg will tell students. “Embrace those changes, be open to change, expand your horizons and your comfort zones.”

Goldberg goes on to say, “High school is an opportunity to reinvent yourself, so do not allow yourself to be typecast. Know [that] your possibilities are limitless, you control your destiny. If you have not been the student you want to be or can be, you have the power to change that.”

Board member Myra Lurie will tell students, “High school will present new and exciting choices and challenges. Take advantage of these opportunities to explore and nurture your own unique gifts and talents.”

“Seek out the unseen option, the fresh perspective and the new answer. Always keep an open mind,” she advises.

Member Jake Manaster’s advice will be more general. “The company students keep and who they surround themselves with throughout their life can be integral to their personal success and well-being,” he will tell graduates.

In another example of embracing change, several noted that students will go from supporting their own school sports teams (Horace Mann Huskies, for example) to supporting the Normans.

Board President Lisa Korbatov will be speaking to graduates.

Check back with Patch tomorrow for photos of the eighth grade graduation ceremonies. Patch joins parents and the staff of the Beverly Hills Unified School District in congratulating the eighth grade class of 2011!

Be sure to follow Beverly Hills Patch on Twitter and "Like" us on Facebook.