8th Grade Students at GMS Celebrate in Final Farwell
CONGRATULATIONS 8TH GRADERS!
June 11, 2021
by: Ms. Rushel Grillo, Mr. Luis Ortiz Perez, Rewan Faraq, Nahom Daniel, Ruth Tewodros, Diana Prudius, and Ayesha Gulzar
8th Grade students, their families, and the Glasgow Middle School Staff came together virtually last night to celebrate our students and their accomplishments throughout their time in middle school.
Two significant awards were announced.
The Ellen Glasgow Award is presented to one rising 9th grade Glasgow Middle School student each year. This award recognizes excellence in academic achievement attained despite challenges faced by the student. The recipient of this award truly embodies all the characteristics of the IB Learner Profile; Inquirer, Knowledgeable, Thinker, Communicator, Principled, Open-Minded, Caring, Risk-Taker, Balanced, and Reflective. For the 2020-2021 school year, we would this to present Kevin Duarte-Sandoval, with this award.
The Principal’s Award is presented to members of the rising 9th grade class of Glasgow Middle School. This award recognizes one student that not only excelled in academics but also made a positive impact on their school and community. In order to be nominated for this award, the students must demonstrate service to his/her school and community. For the 2020-2021 school year, we would this to present Victoria Quiteno, with this award.
For the individual teacher awards, the administration will send an email out to all the winners to congratulate them and let them know that they should be receiving their certificate via mail within the next couple of weeks.
A video presentation was shared to celebrate the 8th-grade students. Four student speakers (Xiaoyu “Misha” Speede, Safa Touri, Rewan Faraq, and Saron Amdemeskel) were selected to share their memories, staff declared their well-wishes, and many pictures of students were displayed. Here is the video that was shown:
The evening wrapped up with a message from Principal Victor Powell and a virtual art gallery.
Congratulations rising 9th graders!

Rushel Grillo has been a part of the Glasgow Team for four years. She loves the community and leadership in this school and is proud to be a Panther. This is her 10th year in FCPS where she has taught students spanning 4th-8th grade. Currently, she is the Journalism Program teacher. Her classes include Journalism 101, Media Communications and Yearbook. Other responsibilities include a Lead on the Instructional Technology Team, Leader Mentor and CT Leader of the Design Department.
Rushel finished her undergraduate degree from Houghton College with BA in Psychology. After a career in youth counseling and business, Rushel went back to school to procure her M.Ed of Curriculum & Instruction from George Mason University. She has an endorsement in Advanced Academics and truly loves teaching Critical and Creative thinking skills. Rushel is also the Color Guard Instructor at Mount Vernon High School. She is the assistant to the Band Director and creates routine for the...

Rewan Farag (she/her) attends Glasgow Middle School and is in 8th grade. She was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and lived there until she was 5. She then moved to Northern Virginia.
She loves to read and write. She has been playing the viola for about 4 years now and is in Chamber Orchestra at Glasgow MS. She knows how to speak Arabic and is currently learning French. She loves to swim in the summertime. She also loves to do community service; she is in a volunteer club. Her favorite subject is math and she has 2 brothers and a sister.

Nahom Daniel is an 8th grader at Glasgow. His parents are from Ethiopia but he was born and raised in Northern Virginia. He loves being with friends, playing video games, and sleeping. He loves to make people laugh whenever he gets the chance to and he wouldn’t be here today without his amazing family.

Ruth "Katte" Tewodros is an 8th grader at Glasgow Middle School. She was born in Ethiopia, but has lived half of her life in Virginia.
This is her first year in journalism. She loves to play sports, participate in competitions, and try new things.

Diana Prudius, she/her, is an 8th Grader at Glasgow Middle School. Her whole family is from Moldova, but she was born in the United States. At home she speaks English and Romanian. She loves everything about the arts, playing piano, alto saxophone, writing music, singing, writing poetry, and dancing ballet. Math is her favorite subject, and she enjoys reading about black holes and dark matter. The Umbrella Academy is Diana’s favorite tv show by far.

Ayesha Gulzar (she/her) is an 8th grader at Glasgow Middle School. She was born in Lahore, Pakistan but was raised in Alexandria, Virginia. She is a passionate creative person who loves to write, draw, bullet journal, and do calligraphy. In her free time, she likes to learn new things or organize because she is a true neat freak at heart.

Carlin Adjula is an 8th grader at Glasgow Middle School, Her ethnicity originates from the Philippines and she loves to embrace that. She also likes entertainment such as K-drama and Anime, along with listening to music artists such as, Yoasobi, Dreamcatcher, LiSA, Itzy, etc. Some of her hobbies include singing, dancing, along with attempting to learn new languages. Overall, she's dedicated to what she does, and always tries her hardest.