On Friday June 10 at 2.30 p.m., the staff and students of Yew Wah Yantai gathered to take part in a moving ceremony to celebrate the achievements of the 11 students graduating this year. This event was held in the Multi-purpose Hall, known famously as “the fifth floor”, with proud parents, Secondary students and teachers in attendance. The guest of honour, the well-known and highly respected Frenchman and author Mr Michel Humbert, a long-time friend of YWIES Yantai, gave the key-note address. The graduation opened with the school choir performing the Yew Wah School Hymn.

Mr Humbert delivered his speech encouraging the graduates to be bold and to grasp the opportunities presented to them; welcome speeches were given by the Co-principals Mr Aaron King and Ms Sara Sun and the Valedictorian Ms Grace Lan gave a speech on behalf of the graduates. The students were rightly recognised for not only graduating, but for a series of other outstanding achievements. Grace Lan received the Academic Award, Olinga Yaganagi received the Citizenship Award and Ameily Zhang received the Fine Arts Award. Cousins Grace Lan and Nick Yang also received awards for attending Yew Wah for their entire school life of 13 years. The awards were presented by Primary School representatives Ms Rose Pei and Ms Sunny Sun who had taught them both. The ceremony was guided by the Masters of Ceremonies, Secondary Co-Principals Mr Chris Danaher and Ms Rita Zhao.

The graduation was a formal event, and the graduates were led into the Hall by Mr Dominic Rich and Mr David Krieger who were their Homeroom teachers. However as graduates, they walked out of the Hall themselves. This signified that they left the school and were going out into the wider world on their own. The graduates then formed a guard of honour for the rest of the school to show their appreciation to Yew Wah for the education and experiences they had received. The graduates and their parents were served afternoon tea, and were able to enjoy time together with the teachers for one final occasion, during which all had the opportunity to take many pictures, with their favourite teachers, family and friends. We wish the graduates success in their future.