Grantham High School - Olympian Yearbook (St Catharines, Ontario Canada)

Page 35 text:

Rick Storey 34 Ray Strayer 33 Brenda Styger 38 Rick Teminski 35 Sharon Thomas 35 Mark Thususka 36 Cathy Tinegate 35 Janice Torretto 36 Pat Towns end 33 Dave Trussell 36 Jeff Tucker 37 Melodee Usick 38 Joanne Vanderhart 38 John Vanderlee 38 Tom Vogt 35 Gary Walker 33 Laurie Ward 34 Mary Watson 35 Duncan Webb 34 Paul Roadnight 36 Julie Wells 37 Lloyd Werner 34 Doris Wiesner 38 Suzanne Williams 35 Tim Zaritsky 33 Kim Zeoli 34 Mike Znak 37 Gin Zubrickas 33

Page 37 text:

VALEDICTORY SPEECH Platform guests, ladies and gentlemen, and most particularly my fellow graduates: It has now become fashionable for the valedictorians in most high schools to point out the futility of the academic years spent in high school, and their total irrelevance in relation to the years that follow, whether they be spent in centers of liigher learn- ing or elsewhere. The end result of this is that students are reminded of what they al- ready know, and their pessimism especially in the last year is unfortunately increased. In the midst of frustration and discontent something about the years invested in high school is forgotten, even tonight in the Graduation exercises. At Commencement we reap the fruits of our academic endeavours. Students are re- cognized as having successfully completed four or five of scholastic achievement. Those who excelled are given special tribute for their extra hard work or brains, what- ever be the case. But there is another kind of achievement that should equally be honoured tonight, and all graduates share in this honour. High school is not just symbolic of forgotten equations, solutions or translations. It is also representative of a time and place in our lives where we, the students, are given the opportunity in and out of the classroom, through peer and teacher association, to develop as a person. The awkward teenager that entered high school, leaves it as a young adult with at least the beginnings of ideas that are his own. The degree to which this is accomplished is debatable because it cannot be assessed quantitatively. Too often our society tends to encourage those things in life which can be measured like material and scholastic success. Students should be guided into the adult world with encouragement to succeed not only as students, but as persons. In the truly in- dividual, intellectual and character growth are inseparable. To be lacking in one or the other is to be that much further from total maturity. It would be a mistake to over emphasize the role education should play in develop- ing individuals. The school does not, catmot teach students how to achieve personal growth. The initiative must come from the student. The institution merely provides the means - that is why encouragement is so necessary. I am not demeaning scholastic achievement. What 1 am saying is that personal achievement is equally important to create a well-blanced individual who can live in a world with people. So this evening, every graduate sitting in this auditorium should be congratulated for making the grade academically and as a person. I feel I am expressing the views and sentiments of my fellow graduates when I say that life in high school would have been less tolerable had it not been for our relationships with each other, in times of agony and ecstasy . THIS is what we will remember most when the academic part of high school is long forgotten. In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank the staff and my fellow graduates for giving me this honour tonight, and for making my high school years something worth remembering. Thank you, Olivia Del Col. November 2, 1973 Seniors 33