The Graduate

*NSYNC'S JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE TAKES TEEN PEOPLE READERS ALONG AS HE SAYS BYE,BYE,BYE TO HIGH SCHOOL AND RECEIVES HIS DIPLOMA

"EXCELLENCE IN ACTION." THAT'S THE MOTTO AT E. E. JETER ELEMENTARY School, but it could also be the mantra of its most famous alum, Justin Timberlake. On May 12, the 19-year-old 'Nsync singer returned to his grammar school, just outside Memphis, to attend a special assembly where he announced that the Justin Timberlake Foundation , which works to bring quality music programs into schools, would award its first grant to his alma mater. (Justin, whose high school grade point average was 4.0, attended Jeter until eighth grade and had been schooled by private tutors since 1992, when he joined the Mickey Mouse Club.) "There are so many little things I learned (in class) every day that I didn't even know why I was learning it or why it mattered," a cornrow-coiffed Justin told the students. "But then as you grow up and you start seeing how these are things you use every day, you're really glad you paid attention." Lorraine Miller, who taught Justin English and social studies--one of his favorite subjects--in seventh and eighth grades, recognized his charisma early on. " I used to tell him, 'Your're going to be another Elvis Presley,' " she recalls. "He always had an aura about him. He sang (Seal's) 'Kiss from a Rose' at Eighth Grade Day--and I still have the tape on my desk ! " That evening, during 'Nsync's Memphis concert at the Pyramid Arena. Justin got some surprise visitors onstage: Three of his tutors presented him with a cap and gown and his high school diploma for graduating with the class of 1999. Dropping to one knee, Justin yelled, "WOW ! There are 20,000 people at my graduation---and I'll bet I'm the only person who got to wear a bandanna under their cap ! "

Teen People August 2000