You may be wondering what Speech Day is. Well, Speech Day is a school event that takes place annually where students get awarded for their academic excellence with a range of different subjects. Normally, it takes place in school, but this year, it was held in Abdulhussain Abdulredha Theater in Salmiya in celebration of NES’ 50th anniversary. A guest of honor presents these certificates to the students with a handshake along with the senior management team. We are proud to say that this year’s guest of honor was Mr. Michael Gordon, the Country Director from the British Council in Kuwait. Speech Day took place on November 14 this year and was quite a special occasion.
There were many special speeches given by Rana Kisswani (The Head Girl), Mr. Michael Gordon (our special guest of honor), Ms. Doran and Mr. Marchant. They were all meaningful and special regarding the celebration. There were more than just speeches though; there was a musical performance too, a truly beautiful solo by Haneen Khalil accompanied by music by the Concert Band and Mr. Price. Her solo and the strings accompaniment were incredible and left many speechless.
During the course of the evening, this year’s Lower Sixth received their IGCSE certificates from last year. Also, many awards were given out, including many special awards, earned by: Anja Ilisic, Hajara Hiflal, Ege Yilmaz, Jawad Zaabalawi, Haya Abdelradi, Yasmine Dashti, Aysha Al Arfaj, Ranna Kisswani, Ahmed Hedaya, Furzeen Kamran, Nachiket Dighe and Mostafa Salem. There were also unique awards that were given this Speech Day that have never been received in previous years. They are the “The Prize Book of Harvard Alumni Association” given to Nachiket Dighe and “The Al Mulla Exchange Award for Academic Excellence” given to Mostafa Salem.
Speech Day is just one of the many things NES does to reward students for their diligence. NES is a school that doesn’t only focus on perfecting academic excellence but also builds character too. Because at the end of the day, personality beats brain power. You don’t have to ‘be smart’ to be an accomplished and influential person; you need to live the right lifestyle and know how to carry yourself the right way. It matters little how much you know, but it makes all the difference what you do with the information you have and how you implement it in daily life. This makes NES’ new “I am an NES student” qualities all the more crucial in the ‘real world’; they provide good questions to ask yourself. Are you respectful, kind, honest and trustworthy, environmentally friendly, etc? NES provides the right environment for the development of these characteristics. Anyone can enroll and sit a few exams, but what does it take to be an NES student? If you took some time to think about your personal progress and how you fit into the society you’re in, that’s when you really know if you are an NES student.
