Prior to the banquet we hold a burning of the green shirt ritual, where we burn a green shirt to symbolize the right of passage from junior high to high school. 

Olivia Bruner was the appointed 8th grade spokesperson for the 2008 banquet.  Her speech is known to be one of the best!  If you were unable to attend the banquet, hopefully you can be as moved reading it, as most were hearing it....

Oh, come now, James Madison 8th graders, why so complacent? A wondrous future lies before you. You, the destined graduates of James Madison Preparatory School. Let me describe for you, dear class mates, the visions I behold of your future.
This, as proven by our recent performance of Sleeping Beauty, is an amazing class. This class has a lot of talent, and not just in the realm of fine arts. This class excels athletically; our junior high boys' basketball team was amazing. Both the jr. high girls and boys track teams did extremely well, placing 2nd and 3rd as a team numerous times. This class also stands out academically. We had class mates on the FIRST robotics team 2449, a rookie team that won two awards and went to nationals. As a class we were the first to complete a space shuttle mission doing everything from assembling the space shuttle Exploration to dealing with two difficult, crisis simulations. We also were the first and probably the only ones to make beer in science class. An impressive record.
We have all heard the phrase "with great power comes great responsibility" and I believe that this applies to us. True, we don't, as far as I know, change into skin-tight suits in phone booths to go save the day, but a certain amount of responsibility comes with being such a talented class.
I think of these talents as gifts given to us by another. When you give your friend a gift, such as a birthday present you expect him to use it, not put in somewhere in the depths of his room never to be seen again.. You don't give a gift without a purpose or a reason. I believe that our talents, whatever they may be, were given with our future in mind. Hiding these talents away won't help us, they were given to be used.

However, the responsibility inherent in our gifts is to not only to exercise them but to use them to benefit others. This is the legacy the founding fathers exemplified. As John Adams once said, "If we do not lay out ourselves in the service of mankind whom should we serve?" He's speaking about service, to your fellow citizens, to your country. By service I mean using the gifts entrusted to you for the greater good, without expecting anything in return. Let's think back to Mr. Grant's class last year. Do you think Paul Revere made his fateful midnight ride because he expected he would be remembered for it, in a poem perhaps? Do you think our armed forces are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq right now because they want fame? We are faced with a choice, we know we all have gifts; the question is will we use them to benefit ourselves, or to benefit others.
Selflessly using our gifts is a high calling, but I believe our class is up to the challenge. The junior high has done a lot for those around them. The service project at Streams in the Desert is a great example. Maybe we sacrificed part of our weekends and we lost a few good video gaming hours, but we helped better our community.
The leadership and excellent conduct which this class demonstrated on the trip to the capitol reflected positively on our school, and was a good example of what we are capable of.
It's one thing to recognize our talent as a class, but it's another thing to translate that amazing potential into action. Would you take a moment to think right now about your own gifts. Think of one talent, something you are really good at...something you really enjoy doing. Now think of one way you might be able to use that gift to benefit someone else. It doesn't have to impact the whole world, just the life of one other person.
Now, will you commit to do it?
I would like to leave you with this quote; "Every gift is given for a reason. We can't choose which ones we get, only what we do with them" - Todo Baggypants in The Lord of the Beans, a Veggie Tales Production.