Sheinelle Jones Shares Why She Got Emotional When Her 13-Year-Old Twins Spoke at Their 8th Grade Graduation
Sheinelle Jones Shares Why She Got Emotional When Her 13-Year-Old Twins Spoke at Their 8th Grade Graduation
Hannah SacksThu, June 11, 2026 at 7:17 PM UTC
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Sheinelle Jones and her kids, Kayin, Clara and Uche, on Thursday, April 27, 2023.Credit: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty -
Sheinelle Jones celebrated her twins, Clara and Uche Jr., at their eighth-grade graduation and got emotional when she listened to their speeches
Clara reflected on her journey from kindergarten to now and called her mom her "best friend" during her speech
Uche Jr. honored the school's maintenance team in his speech and shared memories of his competitive nature as a child
Sheinelle Jones celebrated a "big milestone" in her house this week when her 13-year-old twins graduated from eighth grade.
On a Thursday, June 11 episode of Today with Jenna & Sheinelle, the mom of three, 48, revealed that her twins, Clara and Uche Jr., 13, recently had their eighth-grade graduation. "I have three high schoolers now," Jones began. "So my twins, they graduated from eighth grade yesterday."
"It was emotional," continued Jones, who showed a few photos of her twins throughout the years on the show. "It was a small school, so every kid gives a two-minute speech."
"Clara got up there, and I said, 'Can I hear your speech in advance?' And she's like, 'No, Mommy.' And it was, I mean, not a dry eye in the house."
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Jones said her daughter talked about how she remembered her first day in kindergarten and how she didn't know anybody.
"And fast forward to last year, and how she looked back at the funeral and there were just all of her classmates there," said Jones, whose late husband Uche Ojeh died at age 45 in May 2025 after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer called Glioblastoma. "I didn't see that coming. And then she was like, 'Mommy, you're my best friend,' and I'm just [crying]."
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As for her son Uche Jr.'s speech, Jones said her son reminded her of his father in that moment.
"He's got that smile, looking just like his dad, and it was just comical," she shared. "He was like, 'I love competition,' and he talked about how when they were in kindergarten, they had to stop letting him play UNO and Connect 4 because he was too competitive. I forgot about that."
But the thing that made Jones the most "proud" of her son's speech was that he gave a "special shout-out" to the school's maintenance team.
"Everybody gave them a round of applause. He was like, 'Those are the guys. They look out for you when you come in,' and you know how that is," Jones explained. "And so, after the graduation ceremony, we went out to the foyer. All the maintenance guys were there, and they just did this big bear hug, and it was just..."
Jenna Bush Hager then asked if Jones was sitting there thinking about how her kids were now high schoolers.
"Three high schoolers, and they're all bigger than me," said Jones, who is also mom to son Kayin, 16. "So, it was a beautiful moment."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
