My task at this moment is to send you off, on behalf of the teachers, with well wishes, with suggestions on how to live a great life, and with words of heartfelt inspiration. But none of those three is exactly my thing and so, I think, instead I will talk about that which I do know, learning.
For teachers, graduation is part of a long marathon relay type race. Well, some times it’s more like tag team wrestling, but for the purposes of the toast I will stick with the marathon analogy, the type of race where the baton is passed from one person to the next. As a grade 12 teacher, I am just one of many who takes the baton and who passes it on to the next person over the course of your school career. In Kindergarten that baton is covered with finger paint, by grade 6 it is covered with paper mache and by grade 12, hopefully, a strong enough grasp of English and math to do well on the provincial exams. At the end of grade 12, those exams done, we get to pass that baton to you. Today, I forsake my responsibility to tell you what to remember, what to notice, what to commit to memory. Today, I ask you to be the one who chooses what to learn for yourself. In schools, the curriculum tells us what we need to know, but that is not true for real life. So you need to pay close attention, to the lessons, the messages, that have been placed out there for you. They are not always easy to see, but they become more obvious if you know where to look. I will offer a few suggestions:
1. Google: Now, I read “through” your thank you notes, and as some may have thanked google for your diploma ahead of everything else, I assume that you are familiar with it. I would remind you, however, that although Google is touted as the source of all knowledge, it isn’t. Google cannot tell the difference between a professional and an amateur. It cannot tell the different between lies and the truth. It may be able to provide the recipe for pot roast, but that does not mean it will taste like Mom’s.
2. Old people – and here I am not referring only to Mr. Kennedy. In a world that values youth, we forget to listen to those who survived in that dangerous world we call BCP, “Before cell phones.” We think those that don’t tweet, don’t know. We are wrong. They have been there, done that. So listen to them.
3. Work – Work not only pays the bills, it is a good teacher. Work teaches responsibility, skills, and communication. And if you are trying to move a pig up a ramp wearing a tube top, you will soon learn why there is a dress code.
4. All of those around you – Your class has always been an eclectic mix. There are athletes and academics, farmers and tradespeople, entertainers and artists. Some of you have seen your life’s plan in clear steps ahead of you for years Some are still looking. You have learned and will continue to learn from these differences. From them, you will continue to understand how to be humble, how to be patient, how to care. These truly are the skills that will help you succeed in life.
And with that, I would like everyone to take their cup and rise to toast the class of 2015. On behalf of the teachers of Killarney School, both past and present, I wish you all success, happiness, and fun.