Shady Side Academy Graduation

This past Friday I attended Shady Side Academy's commencement exercises for the class of 2009 as a guest of my dear friend Anita, whose daughter, Justine, was graduating. (For those of you who are not from the Pittsburgh area, Shady Side Academy is a renowned and well-respected school in the area that offers a world-class elementary through high school education).

Anita and I became friends while serving together as children's leaders in a local Bible study, Bible Study Fellowship. As an FYI, if you are looking for a good Bible study, I would highly recommend checking out a local BSF class.

I met Justine last fall when I took her senior pictures (again, pre-blog days, so I'll share a few). She is such an amazing, hard-working, and talented girl. I am sure she will achieve whatever she sets out to do. I think what is most endearing, though, is her humility and desire to serve God. Anita and her husband have definitely raised their children well!

It was pouring down outside when I took her senior pictures, but Anita's house has some excellent architecture that worked well for the shoot.








And here's one of her and her mom.


For the ceremony, the girls wore white dresses and the guys wore blazers.








The graduation address was given by Shady Side Academy graduate and Harvard Professor Jonathan Zittrain.










No hats, so they threw their programs into the air:






They had these amazing cakes at the reception--that's a solid piece of chocolate you're looking at.


Proud family.



Congratulations Justine!