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| The lovely school campus pictured on the Banquet program |
Our daughter's high school graduation from TASIS - The American School in England was full of tradition but it was not like any high school graduation I've been to.
The founder of the school, Mrs. Fleming, was a risk-taker who believed in tradition. She started the first TASIS school in Switzerland in 1956 as an experiment in international education. In 1976, Mrs. Fleming at the age of 66 opened the TASIS campus in England even though a feasibility study showed it was a bad idea. Thirty-seven years later the school is thriving. It offers an American curriculum to students from over 50 countries. About half of the 400 students in the high school, or "Upper School" as it is called, are boarders.
We've been blessed that Lexi was able to spend her four high school years in the special learning environment that is TASIS. She met kids from literally all over the world. She was challenged academically and, as smart as Lexi is, that is an accomplishment. The school also promotes physical activity, service to others, and appreciation of culture and beauty, resulting in a well-rounded education. The values and traditions instituted by Mrs. Fleming are carried on today. We saw evidence of this in the graduation ceremonies.
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| Champagne Reception at School |
The gymnasium was transformed into a banquet hall with candelabra and tablecloths and paper lanterns suspended from the ceiling. Flags from each of the graduates' home countries were hanging.
Lexi and her boyfriend were seated side by side. Coincidence? I think not. With only 103 graduating seniors, the school is small enough that the assigned seating arrangements were personalized.
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| Seann, Lexi, and her Advisory Teacher |
The Blessing before dinner read by Lexi's Humanities teacher, Mrs. Page, was the same blessing that's been said at the Banquet for 30 years and was written by Mrs. Page's husband. Students performed some music selections as I'm sure has happened each year. Four Senior speakers voted on by the student body gave speeches giving us a taste of their varied experiences at TASIS. Perspectives range from boarding students to day students and from the kid who attended TASIS for 13 years to those that moved here only a couple of years ago or even just for their senior year.
The Banquet was a special, personal time for reflection before the formal graduation ceremony the next day.
One of Mrs. Fleming's traditions is the graduation attire. The girls wear a white or ivory dress and the boys wear black suits. There was some grumbling about not getting to wear caps and gowns (as there is every year) but the result actually looked quite classy and nice.
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| TASIS Class of 2013 |
The girls are given four long-stemmed white roses to carry, the boys wear white carnations, all provided by the school. Perhaps the four roses are for the four years of high school. I like to think they represent the four years we have lived here.
The ceremony was held on the school grounds in a large tent or a "marquee" as they call it here. The students entered on a red carpet, boys escorting girls. The students entered according to height, interesting how Lexi and Seann ended up together :)
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| Procession into the ceremony |
The ceremony itself was nice, similar to an American high school's. We did sing both the American national anthem and the British "God Save the Queen" anthem.
The speaker was Bill Curry, a former NFL football player. Doubts about what inspiration a football player could give were quickly snuffed as he proved to be an excellent motivational speaker. I was impressed that he used references from each of the Senior Speeches from the Banquet the night before in his own talk, showing he had actually been paying attention to them.
When the students walked across the stage to receive their diplomas, Founder Mrs. Fleming's daughter was among the dignitaries to offer congratulations. In keeping with tradition, she kissed each student three times on the cheek, left right left. With 103 students, that was a lot of kisses!
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| Mrs. Fleming's daughter and Bill Curry in center |
After the ceremony, the school provided a buffet lunch for all the attendees. This wasn't just burgers or sandwiches. Full-blown roast beef, salmon, ham, salads, desserts, wine, champagne... a feast. A live band played big band era music, creating a festive celebratory atmosphere. Even the inevitable English rain shower didn't dampen spirits much.
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| Partaking of the yummy desserts at the luncheon |
One of the graduation gifts given to each student was a book containing the "Wit and Wisdom of Mary Crist Fleming". Her traditions and spirit live on in TASIS. I like one of her quotes that was also mentioned in one of the graduation speeches:
"Times change, values don't. Always hold on to yours!"
