Grade 6 Closing Ceremonies Speech of Mrs. Cristina de Leon-Hinlo

Below is her speech to the graduating batch:

Good morning Fr. Ari, Mrs. Choo, Mr. Perez, Mrs. Magtibay, to all our administrators, teachers and parents, and most especially a great morning to our Grade 6 students! Thank you for the invitation to speak on behalf of the

parents.

We are so happy and proud to be here with you today celebrating this major milestone. You made it this far after such a challenging and grueling last two years brought on by the pandemic… and you were able to overcome and adapt to what life threw at you. You are a success for making it to this point!

But success, you might think is a one-man effort…. After all, YOU believed in yourself,  YOU studied hard and put in the blood, sweat, and tears, to submit all your requirements to pass your subjects. Am I right?

But for every one of you successful students here, there was a hardworking team… of teachers and parents who made sure you would reach your full potential. Your teachers spent long hours preparing your lessons to make it interesting and engaging. Your parent or guardian may have stayed late at work or one may have stayed at home putting their jobs on hold so that you can do what needs to be done.

So while it is YOU who we are celebrating today, let’s be humble enough and grateful to those around us who helped us get here..… Students, let’s please give our teachers, and parents a big round of applause!!

Now, aside from being humble, grateful, hardworking, and believing in yourselves…what else do we need to become president of the Philippines?….. I’m kidding. But hey!…. Wouldn’t it be great to serve others in that capacity one  day? But for now, let’s settle on what it takes to be good and happy human beings. Let’s talk about compassion, integrity, and courage.

First is being compassionate, it’s the feeling we get when we see another person suffering, and we are motivated to help that person. Being compassionate means slowing down, noticing what’s going on around us, listening, understanding and caring enough to do something.

For example, is your friend sad? Did you notice that your classmate hasn’t been having snacks in the last few weeks? Did your teammate have an accident during practice? Did you see the people who lost everything during the last typhoon while watching the news?

How did you feel? What action did you take? Did you offer a listening ear? Did you share your snack? How did you help your teammate? Did you talk to your parents about how to help the typhoon victims? Having compassion toward others makes this world a kinder and more loving place to live in. Ask yourself, am I a compassionate person?

Next is integrity, doing what is right even when no one is looking, and even when the choice is not easy. For example, you are running for honors but didn’t have enough time to study for a test. Your seatmate’s paper is wide open. Do you keep your eyes on your own paper or do you take full advantage?

You’re walking down a hallway and see a P1,000 bill on the floor and no one else is there. Do you keep the money knowing you can buy a video game with it or do you turn it over to your teacher?

People with integrity are at peace with themselves. Ask yourself…. Do I have integrity?

Next is courage or being brave enough to make good choices even when faced with fear or obstacles. These don’t have to be big noticeable actions like the heroes we learned about in school.

Courage can be as simple as trying new things such as riding a bike or learning a new musical instrument, and having the guts to continue even when it is so hard and you fail the first few attempts - and your classmates laugh at you. Courage can be admitting your mistakes knowing you will face consequences.

Courage is standing up doing the right thing even when others might be against you. It’s like when everyone blames an unpopular person in class for doing something wrong. But you know that person didn’t do it. If you speak up, your friends might get mad at you. What do you think you would do in that situation?

Ask yourself, do I have courage?

Compassion, Integrity, and Courage are just a few of the traits that will make you a better person, contributing to what we hope you become in the future… MEN AND WOMEN FOR OTHERS.

I hope that wasn’t too hard to digest. And I hope you’re still awake.

As you continue working hard towards pursuing your hopes and dreams, I hope you keep in mind how to best serve others. Offer everything you do to God… and when things don’t go as planned (pray harder), learn to laugh at yourselves… keep a healthy sense of humor because this will keep you sane when the going gets tough… and believe me there will be a lot of these times.

Before I end, I would also like to remind you to enjoy being a child or a preteen as my son keeps reminding me. Enjoy your summer break! Go outdoors, do some sports, get some sun, work with your hands, create something…do something that gives you joy and develops your interests to help you become a well adjusted and well-rounded person.

Lastly, listen to your parents (not because I’m a parent too, okay?) When we tell you to eat your veggies, lay off the junk food, do your chores, sleep early and exercise. We don’t do this because it's fun for us. No, really. We do it because we love you and we want the best for you….

So once again, CONGRATULATIONS to all of you, incoming Grade 7 students, and May God bless us all!

Thank you.