In over 25 years of Senior graduations at AAS Moscow, AAS Class of 2021 was the first cohort to have their Graduation Ceremony outdoors!

It was a gorgeous Moscow spring day with teachers and families in attendance and many more watching the livestream.

Although it was the Covid-19 pandemic that forced our hand in moving away from our traditional AAS Bolshoi Theatre venue, the outdoor Graduation Ceremony was a roaring success.

A lot has been said about the possible detrimental effects of the pandemic on learning, physical and mental health. What hasn’t been talked about enough is the reverse. We know from brain science that how we choose to perceive a problem correlates with how effective we are at overcoming, learning, and growing from it.

AAS Moscow Class of 2021 chose to make the best of the hand they have been dealt with Covid-19 being the relevant theme of their IB. They worked hard throughout distance and hybrid learning, used their time wisely, focused on their wellbeing and building strong personal partnerships with each other, their teachers and their family.

And so just like the outdoor Graduation Ceremony, AAS Class of 2021 took a bad situation and reframed it into an opportunity through which they could grow, become more resilient, and enter the post high school world equipped with the experience to overcome the toughest of challenges.

Congratulations AAS Class of 2021! We are proud of you, although we miss you very much and would love to hear how things are going for you these days.