Dedham Middle School holds First "Honor Roll Recognition Ceremony" of Year ...

    Hard to believe it was only five short months ago, that the 240 plus boys and girls, now in the DMS 6th grade, were sitting in separate classrooms at the Avery, Oakdale, Riverdale and Greenlodge schools.

    The first term has just ended and Principal Debra Gately was about to hold her school-wide “Honor Roll Recognition” assembly. Over the course of these past few months, Ms. Gately and her staff of teachers, have taken this (6th grade) group in, and are in the process of making them a fine-tuned class.

    There have been team building days, classroom projects where students rely on one another, all kinds of homework assignments, and a daily schedule of classes in new subjects! This class however, has taken all of this in stride, and the results of their work have been tremendous.

    Principal Gately stood on the stage, as the auditorium filled with students and parents. As the ceremony “opened”, she congratulated all of the students for trying their best, and reminded each and every one of them, there was plenty of time to “set new goals and to become even better.”
 
  Starting with the eighth grade students – 70 Honor Roll, 19 High Honors – names were read aloud and a moment of applause followed. The seventh grade students were next – 76 Honor Roll, 22 High Honors. It was this sixth grade class though, that made Ms. Gately pause for a moment, and reflect on the amount of hard work and dedication it took for them to become such high achievers.

    After a deep breath, the Principal read off the names of 96 Honor Roll and 72 High Honor sixth grade boys and girls!

    A look around the auditorium revealed, that their hard work to achieve this distinction, had all been worth it. There were many smiling faces, thumbs up from parents, and congratulations from fellow classmates, providing a great sense of accomplishment. Principal Gately is well aware, that the praise an Honor Roll student receives, can be a powerful motivator for other children in their class or in the school.

    The first term results of the Dedham Middle School students had been very impressive. Forty-five percent of the students in grade 8 had received Honors/High Honors. Forty-four percent of those in grade 7 received this recognition. It was sixty-nine percent of the 6th grade boys and girls that had made it to the stage to be praised for making Honors/High Honors! Congratulations to all on a fine job.

   Story and Photos by: Joe Kilroy