Eighth grade students officially completed middle school last week as they received certificates at the Howard L. Goff Middle School Elevation Celebration on Friday evening in the Columbia High School gymnasium.
The students processed into the gym, led by teachers and staff, while families watched from the bleachers. Interim Principal James McHugh thanked the families, teachers and staff in attendance for their support of the 8th grade class. Then he congratulated the students for their achievement in middle school and challenged them to do their best at Columbia.
“Tonight is a celebration but it’s also a beginning,” said Mr. McHugh. “High school is your next chapter and it’s full of responsibility. I challenge you to go into it with open minds, open hearts and a renewed determination to grow, work hard and do what’s right. We are proud of you, not for just what you’ve done but what you are becoming.”
The Goff Class Board presented by Riya Mansharamani, Madelyn Tedesco, Megan
Barry, Julia Krisanda and Paige Wagner.
Other speakers included Superintendent Jeff Simons, Goff English Teacher Monica Barnes and Student Council President Riya Mansharamani.
Ms. Mansharamani reflected on the 8th grade class’s collective experience over their three years at Goff and how it prepared them for the future.
“We are heading to high school where we will be freshman, babies again, the lost ones,” Ms. Mansharamani said. “Instead of three hallways divided by grade, there will be so many more but we will survive that, too, because middle school prepared us. It prepared us for change, for challenges, for figuring things out, even when we don’t really know what we’re doing.
“Now, let’s get out of here,” she said. “Have an amazing summer. Goodbye middle school. And high school, ready or not here we come.”
Congratulations to the Goff Middle School Class of 2025 and the incoming Columbia Class of 2029!
Elevation Celebration Program
The Elevation Celebration program includes a listing of the Goff Jazz Band and Goff 8th Grade Singers who performed at the event, as well as the program’s order of events. Goff Elevation Celebration Program.
Video of Ceremony
The Elevation Celebration ceremony was live streamed on the school district website. A video of that recording is available to watch below.
Elevation Celebration Photos
An Elevation Celebration photo gallery is available on the East Greenbush CSD Facebook page. Photo Gallery.
Special Thanks
Thank you to members of the East Greenbush Board of Education and our school district community, Superintendent Jeff Simons and the district administration, parents and caregivers, the Goff PTO, the Goff and Columbia maintenance and technology staff, and Becker’s Farm for the generous donation of flowers that adorn our stage.