The 10^th graduation ceremony was held at the Palace of Conferences in Dbayeh on the 23^rd of September, 2018 in the presence of the Deputy Chief of Mission Mr. Edward White, the Public Affairs Officer, the Cultural Affairs Officer, the Media Officer and a Political Officer.  Mayors and public figures and journalists attended the graduation. Partners from all over Lebanon accompanied the graduates and their teachers. The ceremony started with The Lebanese National Anthem sung by 36 ladies from 36 different clusters and The American National Anthem sung by the Educational Officer, Mrs. April Armstrong. The Program Manager, USPEaK Director, Ms. Rawan Yaghi, had a speech where she thanked the US Embassy for its belief in women empowerment saying that the program is not only teaching women English through those 150 hours but also contributing to the rise of the nation through the potentials women have and through the different cultural activities that accompanied this program like governance and transparency, GBV, debating and others. She also talked to the women who finished their program successfully saying that this is the first step in their successful roads that they chose to start and highlighted the importance of the alumni network that was initiated.  Yaghi then showed a clip that summarizes the journey of the year. The DCM gave a speech where he assured the commitment of the US Embassy towards Lebanon and towards women empowerment through programs like Teaching Women English which is celebrating its tenth year. He also said that the importance of the program lies in encouraging active citizenship and community service besides English Language learning. Mr. White then received a token of gratitude from Ms. Yaghi and they cut the 10^th year cake on the stage before the clusters were called to receive their certificates. USPEaK had trophies for teachers and partners as well.

The graduation was a great success and it was covered by the media. USPEaK had a big pop up banner that held all the partners’ logos under the heading of the Embassy’s logo and USPEaK’s and the name of the program. It was highly appreciated by partners and participants who took photos by the banner.