Chapter 19 Graduation Day Part II (1/2)
The Assembly Hall was decorated simply for the Graduation Event.
The hall was filled with chairs neatly arranged inside, able to accommodate not only every student in the school, but also 2 guests of each graduating student. On stage was a podium right in the middle, with the school emblem on it. There were chairs on the right and left of the podium, where all the teachers of the final year students were seated. Three single sofas were directly behind the podium, which seated the Principal and the two Vice-Principals.
All along the hall walls were banners and balloons of blue and silver. On the right side of the hall, above the banner and balloons, were huge posters of the Top Five Academic Students of the Graduating Year. Normally, it would be the Top Three there but this year, there was a tie for both Position #2 and #3. Thus, there were 5 of them.
Yup, you guessed it. From left to right, in order of ranking was Kyle, Kay and Sam (in one frame), Xing Han and Ali (in one frame as well). They all looked so smart and dashing in their school uniform and jacket. One couldn't help but think that they looked like CEOs of companies rather than 12 year olds. In fact, it looked like Kyle was the Head CEO and the others were his subordinates.
On the other side of the hall were the pictures of the Top Sporting Students of the Graduating Year, which comprised of those who was the top scorer in the field of football, basketball, chess, science and debates. The school didn't just emphasize physical sports, but also those of the 'intellectual' kind (not meaning to say that physical sports were for the slightly less intelligent people, mind you).
Yup, you guessed it again. It was the five of them. Again. From left to right, it was Ali (football), Kyle (basketball), Kay (chess), Sam (science) and Xing Han (debates). Each of them were smiling, holding on to something that was representing the sports they were the top at, while was wearing the official sports uniform.
Hence, Ali was in his football jersey while posing with his left foot (his striking foot) on a football, and one hand on his waist. He flashed a toothy smile with one eyebrow raised at the camera. Various football trophies were on the ground, arranged neatly on the left and right side of Ali.
Kyle had his body facing the left,with his head turned towards the camera. He had a slight smile on his face, and the sleeveless basketball jersey showed off his firm muscles on his arm that was bent upwards, as he twirled a basketball on a finger (of course, you can't see the basketball twirling in the picture). At the bottom of the picture, were the words, ”State Champion”.
Kay was in a white, short sleeved T-Shirt that had the school emblem on the front, and its sleeve full of the chess pieces patterns on it. She was holding up a small chess board with the chess pieces laid out on it. On her neck, were several gold medals representing the competitions that she had won.
Sam was in a long white lab coat that covered a light blue shirt and black pants. Several pens were sticking out of the pocket of his shirt. He was holding up the AI robot that he created at the International Science Fair, and on the robot was a blue ribbon which had #First on it.
Xing Han was in a black 3-piece suit, holding up a trophy that he had won at the State Level Debate Championship. It was but one of the many debating competitions that he won, as could be seen from the various trophies in the background.
Behind the podium, on the stage, were the pictures of the TOP student of the school. The one who achieved the best overall results, both in academics and sports, in the past six years. This was THE award. The best of the best.
Previously, it had always been difficult to decide who it would be. It is easy to establish who are the top academic scorers and who are the top scorers in sports : but finding one who had both was difficult. What sort of ratio do you decide as the basis? Which has higher emphasis? Is a person who excels academically but was dismal in sports, be better than one who was average in both academics and sports? Each year, making a decision gave the Principal and his Vice-Principals a headache.
This year, however, it was easy. All the candidates were the top scorers in their respective sports and were also the top academic students. Thus, it went without saying that the Top Student was Kyle. So, Kyle's huge picture was plastered once again, in all its glory, at the wall on stage.