This great good fortune befell upon me because my grandson, Nicko, a seventh grader at Chaminade was being inducted into the National Junior Honor Society. But I think really it was I that was being re-inducted back into the Human Society.
There is nothing more uplifting than gazing upon a group of fresh-faced, tie and coated young men that have the future before them and suddenly realize we may actually have a future that's worth living in. A young man, Matt Gauvain, was selected as Student Exemplar and gave an excellent speech. He talked about what it takes to be a member of this select group and I was struck by several things he said.
He said, "Every school is established with the goal of educating young people to become more knowledgeable and better thinkers. It takes work and dedication to be called a scholar. We must challenge ourselves and strive for excellence, even when we just don't want to anymore."
...challenge ourselves and strive for excellence...even when we just don't want to anymore... out of the mouths of babes.
Matt went on to say, "If we have a strong character, are respected, give respect to other, are kind, and make it our goal to become the best person possible, all of these other qualities will fall into place. Character is not something static, but is instead quite dynamic, changing with each experience we have and each person we learn from."
I totally agree, today's experience reinforced in me that indeed when the time comes to turn over the reins, our future looks like it will be in good hands. Congratulations to all of the inductees and especially to my grandson, I am very proud of you.
Matt's speech can be found in its entirety at Chaminade Student Exemplar Speech March 15, 2012
This is why I enjoyed working with high school kids for over a decade. They're so idealistic. Congrats to Nicko! Good work!
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