It's Officially: JG Graduation

[nbcrusader]

This evening, our son graduates from the Junior Guard program. It is an eight week program run by the local Life Guard Association that teaches kids ocean safety. The program includes physical conditioning (running & swimming), classroom education and general surf-related fun.

Our son earned the rank of "Admiral" based on various test scores (both physical and mental tests). I'll have to get him a funny admiral hat now.

I'll have pictures tomorrow!

Until then, check out the Junior Guard's website!

 

[Ody]

whoo!

Congratulations to your son!

 

[Mr. BAW]

You must remind him that even if he's the admiral, you are still the Commander in Chief....

and congrats to the young man!

 

[bonosloveslave]

Good job!

 

[tiny dancer]

Congrats. You must be very proud of him.

 

[Tomer]

 

[nbcrusader]

It was a beautiful evening at the beach. Most families arrived with picnic dinners for the celebration. There are 1200 kids and each instructor recognized four cadets in their group. The ceremony took about 2 hours.

My daughter being goofy during the ceremony:

My son standing with his group (this shot was taken from a good distance):

The graduate after the ceremony (he was still wet from going swimming just before graduation started):

After the ceremony, a video highlights from the summer were shown on a big screen.

Then, something interesting happened. As we returned to our car, we noticed our son was crying. Turns out that the video brought back all the fun memories of the summer and he was sad that it was over. He was somewhat confused by this as I don't believe he has ever had this feeling before.

On the way home, he talked about how much the program meant to him, how he saw the value in being challenged, both physically and mentally, by the program and how he realized how much the instructors cared for him through the summer.

He got it.

 

[easytiger]

congratulations