Every year, just before our Net Buddies begin their final exams, we hold a step-up ceremony to celebrate how far they have come. It honors their commitment and hard work throughout the year, showing up every week for their VCs, emailing their mentors, writing blogs, and coming to do their schoolwork and research their current or future interests. We love to recognize each of them with accolades for their dedication.
These celebrations are also about the people who walk beside our Net Buddies, too. Our Video Mentors joined the ceremonies online, as they do week in and week out, year in and year out, and their parents and guardians in person. THANK YOU for your tremendous contribution and your continued support.
We held three separate ceremonies, one for each of our sites, and parents and guardians were there to witness and celebrate their teens. As always, the day was full of joy and pride. Our Net Buddies were soon chatting about who plans to work hard next year to be recognized in which award category. That kind of motivation is exactly what we love to see.
The pride reached beyond the room, too. One parent shared a post with the certificate their son received, saying: “I am so proud of my son, keep it up.” Moments like this remind us that these achievements belong to the whole family.
Beyond the awards, the Step-Up helps our teens build strength, belief, confidence, and the knowledge that they are capable and deserve more for themselves, and reassures them, too, that persistence pays off.
Adolescence is the best time to build all of this. After early childhood, it is the next most advantageous period in a person’s life for investment of all kinds. Every email, blog, and weekly session is an investment in the skills our Net Buddies will need to succeed in future jobs. And our teens show us that this investment pays off, their determination and continuous growth remind us what is possible when young people are given the right support.
Net Buddies, you’ve reached a major milestone and as. you head into your final exams, we wish you the very best of luck. Trust in the effort you have put in all year. We are so proud of you, and, as the Class of 2026 graduates, we can’t wait to see you step up even further and become Infinite Family Net Blazers.