Dear Faculty and Parents,
We are quickly nearing the end of our school year, which means it is time to bid farewell to our 8th graders. This is an exciting time for them, but it has been tremendously complicated by the current pandemic we are experiencing. With that in mind, we have sought to find a way to recognize our students and to honor them while still keeping everyone safe.
The path we have chosen is to have a team of graduation ambassadors consisting of myself, Mr. Peychaud, and Ms. Contento, who will meet outside each graduate's home and offer them our congratulations and their diploma. Each home will also have congratulatory signs graciously provided by our Administration posted outside. Mrs. Nelson has kindly offered to print these diplomas as well as write each name in beautiful calligraphy.
Part of graduation traditionally includes a Rose Ceremony in which the 1st grade gives a rose to each member of the 8th grade (you will recall, we began the year with a similar ceremony in which the 8th graders gave a rose to each incoming 1st grader). For the sake of safety, we unfortunately cannot have the 1st graders directly involved. Instead, they are making cards for the 8th graders, which will be given to each student along with a rose in recognition of this ceremony.
Another special facet of our graduation is a gift we will be collectively creating for the 8th graders. This gift will be a video which will include a message to our students recorded by any Faculty member who had ever taught them. Additionally, any student or member of our school who wishes to give a congratulatory message to our graduates are welcome to do so! If you have any photos or video clips of any 8th grader, no matter how old, please send me a copy so that I can try and work it into this video. We are asking that all submissions be made no later than Thursday, May 22.
When you make your video(s), please follow these guidelines:
Make sure your space is as well lit and pleasant as possible and that you can be seen clearly
Take this video in a place in which you can be clearly heard, with no background noise or conversation
Try and make it as high quality as possible
Keep it relatively brief... no more than 20 seconds
This video is intended for the entire class. Personal messages for a specific student should be sent privately.
Once I receive these videos, Mr. Bowman and I will edit them together. We will need them as soon as possible to allow ample time to put the videos together. I look forward to seeing what you create!
Instructions for uploading video files
You can upload videos on YouTube and share them privately to sjpauzolis@gmail.com and to jbauman@waldorfnola.org. Here are the steps you'll need to follow (borrowed from a website that explained it far better than I could have)...
Create an account if you don’t already have one.
Once you’re logged in, select the video recorder icon next to your profile image. Select Upload video from the dropdown menu.
On the first screen, you can drag the video file into the upload area, or select the Upload button and navigate to where the video is stored on your computer.
YouTube does a good job compressing the video during the upload process. Even large files upload fairly quickly.
On the next screen you can give the video a title and description.
Scroll to the bottom of this window and select Next twice to get to the Visibility window in the video upload wizard.
In the visibility window, select the Publish now dropdown and choose Private.
Scroll to the bottom of this window and select Done when you’re finished.
In the list of your videos on the video screen, select the title to open the Video details screen.
Select the three dots next to the Save button in the upper right, and select Share privately.
This will open a window where you can list all of the emails for the people you want to share the video with privately.
Those people will receive an email invite that’ll include a link they can click on to stream the private video that you’ve shared with them.
The limit to the size of video you can upload is rather large. You can upload a video that’s either 128 GB, or 12 hours, whichever is less.
Sinecerely,
Steven Pauzolis
8th Grade Teacher