Victoria High School - Victorian Yearbook (Edmonton, Alberta Canada)

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Valedictory by BETTY FLAGLER I am very proud and deeply thrilled to have been chosen to speak today on behalf of the graduating class. I would like to say thank you” to my fellow students for giving me this opportunity to say thank you” to Vic. To most of us, in the atmosphere of this occasion, the word graduation” means to receive a diploma for fin¬ ishing a course — to say farewell — to part from Vic itself, as well as from the wonderful fun and friendships enjoyed there. Although it also means that we shall change, we must not feel discouraged. We should feel encouraged and challenged by the opportunity to show the gratitude we. feel towards our teachers and our parents. For it is they who have done so much to equip us, the artists, to paint the portraits of our characters. Before a good portrait can be completed, the artist must first have a deep understanding of his subject. He must make a preliminary sketch of his plan, and he must have ready at hand the proper materials with which to work. The training at Vic has provided us, the artists, with a high-quality canvas on which to paint our char¬ acters. This canvas will never fade nor crack — it is guaranteed for a lifetime! Before a good portrait can spring to life on this canvas, the artist must know how to mix his paints. Our teachers have taught us to be discreet individualists — that is, to mix colours not too bright nor too gaudy, yet not to hide behind convention nor pale shades. The insight, the inspiration to assess the person he is to depict on canvas, must come from within the artist—from his parents and his home. With¬ out this wonderful background of our homes, how many of us could have come as far as this—or could progress further? We have learned, too, the use of good planning for, to be good artists, we sketch before we paint. These sketches, which have often shown faults in our character, could be corrected at Vic before the final colouring of the portrait. Vic has given us the essential feeling of self-confidence to wield the paint brush with swift, sure strokes. Vic has taught us the patience, the perseverance, the determination we shall need, to transform our first sketches into the finished paintings on canvas, the por¬ traits of our characters. Life at Vic has helped us develop a depth of char¬ acter comparable to the three-dimensional effect of paint¬ ing that makes it look real and alive. Perhaps the lov- liest shade in our portrait will be the one produced by the relationship between staff and students. The ever available assistance of the teachers and their respect for the unlimited potential of the students at Vic have com¬ bined to teach us responsibility—to ourselves and to others—in short, to make us good citizens. But most important of all, Vic has taught us that life is not a number painting. Everything will not always fall int o its numbered section to fulfill our every dream. In these unpredictable situations, we must use the depth of character developed at Vic to its fullest extent to pro¬ duce that most outstanding portrait — the one of our future. In the future, we, as adults, will be thrust into many and varied situations to be judged by innumerable critics just as a portrait is tried in many different frames and evaluated by many art critics. It is a well-known fact, however, that a good portrait, such as one painted at Vic, looks beautiful even in the ugliest frame. A good portrait relies not on environment so much as on its basic colours for lasting beauty; we can depend on our Vic education to survive any change of frames. Soon, framed by our name and writing on an examina¬ tion paper, we will face some of the toughest critics we have yet met — namely, department examiners. This will be the culmination of our activities at Vic. But, as Winston Churchill said at El Alamein after the first major Allied victory in World War II, “Gentle¬ men, this is not the end — it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps the end of the beginning.” So, at the end of our beginning, we are leaving Vic, but we do so with the knowledge that Vic has given us a firm basis for life, and with the sincere hope that we and our friends will find our suited” frames in it. It is our prediction that, though the painters, subjects, and instructors will change, the materials in this school will always be of first quality. For the indomitable Vic spirit to succeed will always instill in its students the wonder¬ ful happiness it has given us. Page 21

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