Wayne Boatwright wrote:
> On Mon 16 Jun 2008 06:11:16a, Melba's Jammin' told us...
>
>> Janet Baraclough > wrote:
>>
>>> The message > from "Giusi"
>>> > contains these words:
>>
>>>>> That really surprises me. All the graduations I've ever been to
>>>>> in the UK universities, have strictly limited numbers of guest;
>>>
>>>> These are High School
>>>
>>> LOL. Kids here don't "graduate" from secondary school. They just
>>> leave school. Everybody does it so it's not regarded as an academic
>>> achievement :-)

>> Sweet Jesus! Here they sometimes "graduate" from kindergarten‹with
>> mortarboard and gown. I was invited to an 8th grade graduation
>> party (I was told that's a common thing in Roman Catholic parochial
>> schools). My thought was, "That's as far as she plans to go?"
>
> Yes, 8th grade is a common graduation thing in Catholic schools, at
> least it was in Cleveland. They may or may not continue on to a
> Catholic highschool, or choose a public highschool instead. I think
> the latter is why they make such a big deal out of 8th grade
> graduation. For those who choose public highschool (which seems the
> majority), it's a turning point in their education.

Now it's everywhere. It used to be just assumed you'd graduate
junior high school. Heh. Now it's a big ceremony/party situation.
What the heck.

nancy