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Wednesday 10 June 2015
Tuesday 9 June 2015
Principal's Address
Grade 12 Graduation
Rundle Academy
Mr. Keith van der Meer
Graduating class of 2015, as I stand up
here today there is one thing I want you to know; this speech has most
definitely been one of the hardest undertaking I have had in my first year as
principal of Rundle Academy. People have asked if I like the job, how it has
gone, if it has been challenging and up until a few weeks ago, my answers were
always full of positive affirmations and sentiments. Lately, however, when
asked I have delivered the same message, but I know I have been lying. Your
address has made me miserable, it has kept me up at night and when I do manage
to fall asleep I awake in a panic after a some fearsome dream of standing up
here and sucking the life out of everyone in the room with a dry, unaccomplished
speech devoid of substance.
Why the nightmares graduates - because of
the advice I was given heading into my delivery; make it about them, meaning
you all sitting here before us, and, be inspiring. Two problems here as first
and foremost, I am super interesting and when I speak I always make a point of
talking about myself because people think I am pretty impressive and I would
not want to take that opportunity away from anybody and the second problem I
think most of you sitting there can attest to is that my well of inspiration is
vehemently matched and even exceeded by my ability to yell at you. Advice has
also told me to avoid this today.
So back to my dilemma, how do I make the
nightmares stop, focus on someone other than myself and be inspiring all in one
speech? And for a moment graduates, I thought I had it - I would research great
convocation speeches and use them to inspire my message to you. And with that,
I had a full night's sleep. Not soon after I was sharing my revelation with my
sister and she advised that if the speech really was to be about the graduating
class of Rundle Academy would someone else's words or ideas do this any kind of
justice. And for some odd reason I again just wanted to yell at you all - I am
not sure why, but perhaps it had something to do with the fact that I knew the
nightmares were making a comeback in my life. But I also knew that you all
deserved more than someone else's words and my sister was right for the second
time in her life – the first is a longer story best saved for the banquet.
When I further stressed that I was told to
be inspiring, my sister asked me one simple question that helped me craft the
remainder of this speech: What inspired you this year?
We all have the good fortune of belonging
to a school where the students take care of one another. I often have spoken of
our CORE values and of school uniform, 2 of my greatest passions this year, and
I think these frame your time at the Academy quite well.
Your Wellness and Creativity – Whether it
was Aladdin or Alice in Wonderland or any of the productions in between, you
have shone on stage and behind the curtain and learned what it means to be part
of a cast and of a crew. Playing Volleyball, Frisbee or Football or any of the many
sports available to you has seen you become skillful athletes, but more
importantly you’ve become supportive teammates. Your musical talents have
connected you to one another in melody and song and your creativity can be
found in every corner of the school.
Your Understanding and Communication –
You’ve been the voice of your peers through student council and have
consistently represented and advocated for their needs within the school.
You’ve learned to listen and respect all voices through your volunteerism with
kindergarten students and senior citizens and all those in between. You’ve been
Ambassadors for the school, representing us with pride and helping spread
knowledge of the gifts you have been given during your time here at the Academy.
You understand yourselves as learners and found success in your academics that
will follow you long after you leave and you understand that the exception is
the norm, and as a result have helped to ensure the Academy is a place where everyone
can be themselves and feel safe.
Finally, Respect and Responsibility. Kids
helping Kids, Travel Club and volunteering have all provided you opportunities
to you give back and you have. You've been responsible for yourselves and for
one another during you time here. You have demonstrated respect through your
interactions with your teachers and with your peers. You have become mentors,
each taking on a grade 6 buddy. And much like many of the students here today,
they look up to you, care about you and look forward to the day they have the
same responsibility. And I know how great they will be because of the
tremendous role models they have had this year. And I hope that makes you feel
good.
What of my passion for the uniform you
might be wondering? Well, might I also add that looking good also makes you
feel good and you are a good looking crew and that all starts with dressing
nice. I must say that no grade has paralleled the commitment you have to
representing yourselves most appropriately in your Rundle wear this year. With
perhaps a few exceptions; Jon Boland's aversion to ties, Nick Hansen's quest
for pediatric comfort in running shoes, or perhaps Joey and Rajan's torrid
affairs with a razor or finally Mia's gumboots which as she has argued - are
black and shiny so that counts for something. Thank goodness for the rest of
you for holding the group together...
Looking good aside, what does this all
equate to? Before us is a graduating class that has 100% involvement in our
school community and beyond. During your time at Rundle Academy each of you has
personified our CORE values and paved the path for all Rundle Academy students to
follow. You have been and continue to be leaders of your school, and if you
peers do have the fortune of falling into your footsteps, they will ensure that
Rundle Academy continues to be an amazing place to learn and grow within.
So in the end it is not me that needs to
inspire you, for each of you are already inspired. And my hope is that you will
continue to inspire those around you setting the standard for what it means to
be a Rundle Academy graduate; someone who is creative and innovative,
considerate of others and kind, one who listens to better understand and one
who takes on the responsibility of being respectful. Put simply, my wish is
that you inspire those around you to be leaders, as that is what you have
become.
Congratulations graduating class of 2015.
Rundle Academy's 2015 Valedictory Speech
Mia Berloni
Congratulations to the class of 2015. Your hard work, dedication, and countless hours of studying have lead you to overcome many challenges such as learning disabilities, Math 30, and the emotional ups and downs of high school. Having attended Rundle Academy since grade 5, I am honoured that I am representing our graduating class on this memorable occasion. Having attended such a small school, I feel we have all come out with a unique experience that sets us apart from other high schools. I can say with absolute confidence that I personally know every student who has walked this stage today. We have all supported each other in one way or another throughout our high school experience, whether it be helping someone in their academics, drama, athletics, or student council. We have made connections that will last a life time. You all truly represent the Rundle Academy community in a positive way.
Joseph Campbell put forth the theory that every hero in follows the same path. I would like to think that we are all pretty heroic, and I bet our mothers would agree. The journey starts off with a call to adventure, or in our case being accepted into Rundle Academy. It’s not quite Hogwarts, and I am sure not very many of us thought of it as the start of an adventure at the time.
The hero is then supposed to reject that call which I am sure most of you wanted to do; I know I did. But that is not the hero’s destiny. It's our destiny is to save the world… or graduate high school, and then save the world.
We then meet our mentors, whether that be Dumbledore, or Mr. Vesey, they are the ones who show us how to cross the threshold from our ordinary world and learn to become a better person than when our journey began.
We are then put through tests to find out who we can rely on. Tests like orientation camp, where first impressions are made. Some of us received some nicknames that stuck for quite awhile: I actually thought Jesse’s name was Philippe for a month.
After this, the hero has to figure out his approach - how they are going to achieve their goal. We all approached our high school experience differently, but we all ended up in the same place here today, graduating. But our journey to get here is the really interesting part. There were many challenges on the way to graduation. Some of us had a harder time than others, and will want to forget some of the more traumatic parts of high school. Personally, I am excited to be able to watch a Shakespearean play without someone asking me if I know who wrote it. There is no question Sean is excited, or as excited as Sean gets, to not always be asked if he wants a glass of sewer water. The experiences that we have had in high school, good and bad, have helped to shape who we are today and will continue to influence who we are going to become. Going to see the Eiffel tower with all our friends, giving the word grenade a new meaning, going to volleyball provincials, making a first free-throw shot, winning the student election (or in my case, losing) are all things high school has given us beyond the knowledge of the quadratic formula, punnett squares, and proper comma use.
The stage part-way through the hero’s journey is transformation. Graduating high school is a momentous occasion but I am pleased to say it is not going to be the most momentous thing to happen in any of our lives. We are so lucky to say that some of the best days of our lives have not even happened yet. Yes, we are closing a chapter in our lives as high school ends, but we are also opening a new one. A chapter filled with the excitement of discovering new things: whether that be university, work, or travel.
This is now the part where I am supposed to give advice on what to do in the years ahead. But the truth is I don’t have any advice to give. My journey is not over yet, and I don’t know what the future holds for any of us. So instead of getting advice from me I am going to give you advice from someone who you probably know pretty well by now. William Shakespeare wrote that, “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” It is up to us now to make our own destiny. Soon gone are the days of having things handed to us; it is our turn to go out and make our lives into whatever we want them to be. For many of us, it is a scary thought to leave the faces we see every day.
Our hero’s journey is not complete; we still have trials ahead. We are not done with this adventure; all of us have so much left to discover, and in turn grow and change. However, the hero always remembers where he or she started and takes time to reflect on that when their journey is complete. Reflect, and thank everyone who made it possible for all of us to reach this milestone of graduation.
Thank you to our teachers, coaches, and mentors for always going the extra mile to make sure we achieve our goals.Thank you to our parents and families for making sure we got to school on time, or in my case 15 minutes late, for supporting us through high school, and making it possible for us to go to Rundle Academy. Our ambition, work ethics, and ability to overcome obstacles is a testament to your guidance throughout the years, and I know that we wouldn’t be here without your constant support. The last stage of the hero's journey is the road to return. Charles Dickens said that, "The pain of paring is nothing to the joy of meeting again." I know none of us will forget our years of high school spent together, and I hope we all meet again one day.
Headmaster’s Address
Jason Rogers
Graduation - 2015
Can you wait? Can you change?
Student body, faculty, parents, honoured guests and gradates, it is my honour to address you today.
Grade 12 students - let me first congratulate you. You are crossing one of the finest milestones in your lives. This is the end of your ‘mandatory’ formal education. I bet you can hardly wait to move on and see what changes lie ahead! You are moving into a world where you now, will be in charge of what you decide to do, what you care to learn and how you choose to live. In my observations, if you continue along the path you have set for yourselves, your futures are bright.
At the onset of this year I challenged our community to be ‘kinder than is necessary’ - Grade 12’s your actions have embodied this very sentiment. You have not only won close games, banners, individual championships, and a home court, nail biting, heart pounding provincial championships - you have been spectacular sportsmen and women along the way. You have acted and performed musically on our stages and on the streets of New Orleans, you have used your gifts to provided joy to those who needed it most. You have not only travelled thousands of kilometers to experience new cultures, you have also taken time to give back to communities, organizations and individuals at home and around the globe. You have not only studied and achieved your best, you have cared for those in our Rundle community when they most needed you. Whether it was athletics, the arts, character initiatives or academics - you found a way to be kinder than was necessary - for this, please accept my personal thanks.
How many of you are so excited you can hardly wait to see what changes will come? Good - because ironically, this entire address is based around waiting and changing… waiting and changing...
Now, today, I hope to share with you two stories that will help inform and guide you as you move from these spectacular moment into your futures.
Let me start with a question, “Raise your hand if you would eat a marshmallow (or a cookie or something other delectable treat), right now, if I was able to offer you one.”
Believe it or not, this was the exact conundrum that was presented to preschool children in the 1970’s by Stanford researcher Walter Mischel. The experiment design was simple, he placed a 4 year old in a room with one singular marshmallow. He then simply said, I am going to leave the room now and if you can wait for a short time until I return to eat that marshmallow, I will give you one more and you can eat them both. Now, this experiment has been replicated several times with marshmallows and other tempting treats like cookies and the results have always been the same. Roughly 65% of children choose to eat the singular marshmallow and 35% of the children are able to wait. Now - you may be asking yourself - why, Mr. Rogers, are you choosing to dwell on marshmallows today - this is not only a divergent tract but a cruelly tempting one? You are making me hungry… this is not fair! Give me just one moment and I’ll get to the point. Now, Walter Mischel was not actually studying marshmallows, he was studying the children’s ability to delay gratification - or to persevere. What he found was remarkable. He followed those same children into their adult lives. He found that those who were able to wait had better jobs, had lower rates of obesity, were less likely to abuse drugs and ultimately were happier and more fulfilled. My first question to you is - “Can you wait?”
Here’s the next group question, “How many of you have a camera on you right now?” (it’s okay if that camera is on your phone, it still counts) - selfie opportunity...
This next brief story will take you back to the beginning of personal cameras. In the year 1878 an innovative company lead by George Eastman pioneered a way to make the film development process so compact and refined, almost anybody could own a camera. (prior to this date, pictures could only be recorded on plates of glass - and you can imagine how much trouble that might cause). You may have heard of George Eastman’s company, he named it Kodak. For the next 100 years, the Kodak film company had an absolute monopoly on film and picture production. They were so far ahead for over a century, it was universally accepted that they would never be caught. Then in the early 1980’s, some young computer scientists started to toy with digital photography. Many people within Kodak argued that Kodak should ‘get with the times’ and start their own digital department and start experimenting with change. The upper management at Kodak considered changing but ultimately decided this digital revolution was too far in the future, and besides, Kodak was the industry standard and would never be defeated… especially by something as flippant and unrefined as digital photography. Let’s fast forward to today - if you were to Google Kodak on your cameras… I mean your phones… you would find that Kodak went bankrupt in 2012 and no longer exists in it’s original structure.
This leads me to my second question for you, “Can you change?”
I think these two paradoxical stories about waiting and changing bring us to the true essence of what will enable you to be successful in an everchanging world.
I hope you ask yourselves: “Can you wait?” and at the same time, "Can you change?" Those individuals who strike the balance between these two competing qualities may well be what determines those who elevate themselves from good to great.
It is my belief that the world is looking for people who are determined, who can persevere, and who have grit. For those who can see the big picture and can delay gratification to accomplish what is necessary (much like those children who were sat in front of the marshmallow). I also believe that the world expects that you will be perceptive enough to change when is necessary, to be agile and and innovative. When faced with inevitable change do you batten down the hatches and hide behind tradition or do you embrace the change (much like the cautionary tale of the Kodak company).
Finally, more than anything, I believe the world is looking to embrace citizens that go the extra mile and care for other individuals in shocking ways, in ways that are kinder than is necessary.
I believe Rundle College has prepared you to wait when is necessary, to change when is needed and to be kind always.
I personally, can’t wait to see all the success you will have as you enter into our ever changing world.
I wish you all the best and congratulate you on your accomplishment today.
Gary Sylven
Principal's Address
Grade 12 Grad 2015
Good afternoon to everyone that can hear my voice. I am honoured to share this special celebration with you this afternoon, and even more humbled by the opportunity to speak.
I’m usually reluctant to speak, as I was advised many years ago that one should speak only when one will improve the conversation. So I’m really trusting that my words will provide some value to you.
Here we go. Let me start with the wall outside of Mr. Goettel’s classroom. Our graduates know only too well the quotes that are pinned on the bulletin board there. Some classics are Jimmy Dean’s quote, “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to reach my destination.” And even a quote from Big Sean, “The grass isn’t always greener on the other side, it’s green where you water it.”
My message here today stems from one of those quotes on the wall. Actually, it might not ever have been there because I looked for it the other day and couldn’t find it. So maybe it came from somewhere else, but that doesn’t matter. The point is, it stuck with me.
Here’s the quote: The way you do anything is the way you do everything. Again, the way you do anything is the way you do everything.
It has kind of an eastern, philosophical, Zen-like feel when you first hear it, and the intuitive part of your brain seems to buy into it right away. Mine did anyway.
After a while I got more curious and spent a little time trying to find the exact origin of the phrase, but there was nothing conclusive that I could find. It might be a thousand years old from India or just the title of a business self-help book.
And even the interpretation of the phrase seems to differ among people. The way you do anything is the way you do everything?
Is the meaning of the phrase about building proper habits? Or perhaps paying attention to detail? Or else being genuine and authentic all of the time. Likely it’s a combination of these.
Yet when I look for real life applications of the phrase, it actually falls apart.
How you do anything is how you do everything is not true when you think of the kind man in church who then rudely honks at a car on the way out of the parking lot.
Or the mindful yoga practitioner who leaves her yoga class and rushes to the change room while distractedly checking her cell phone for messages.
It doesn’t make sense to hear about the talented young athlete who brags about being able to eat a bag full of hamburgers from McDonald’s just before going into the big game.
Or even the artist who preaches about creativity and expression, yet comes off as judgemental of others’ work.
No, there is definitely something askew in the phrase, and I’ve calibrated a version that makes better sense to me.
That phrase should be: If you want to be successful, you should do everything in the same way you do anything.
Think of the these successes that were experienced at Rundle this year. You’ll see how the people involved consistently did anything and everything so well:
- The excellence in the detail of every performance at November’s Remembrance Day ceremony, perhaps the most moving ceremony I’ve ever seen in my 20 years at Rundle.
- The ongoing focus on harmony required to produce the amazing music of Rundle’s band, whether marching on the streets of New Orleans during Mardi Gras or at last night’s concert.
- The relentless months of training and sacrifices of our championship basketball team leading to their provincial banner.
- The way that successful students must practice calculus day after day in order to do well on the exams.
- And even the character Atticus Finch, from the drama production of To Kill a Mockingbird, living by his principles every day despite the hardship it causes him.
Anything and everything.
Let me ask each grade 12 student to reflect on this question now: Which teacher has had the most impact on you over the years?
Does that teacher show excellence on some days, but not on other days? Or great character in most situations but poor character at other times? No, I would bet that you are thinking of a teacher that showed excellence in anything and everything, consistently and reliably.
Moving from the past to the future, Grade 12s, let’s see how this phrase might work for you.
Imagine yourselves in the near future, just a few months from now, walking into one of your classes at university.
Will you walk into class on time, or be the one that rushes in late?
Will you greet the professor personally, or not make the effort?
Will you choose a seat where you’ll be engaged in the class, or sit at the back and check your Facebook?
Will you settle into that seat and take out the materials you need to start, or search for a pen at the bottom of your backpack as junk spills onto the floor?
You can sense the message I’m building here. By being mindful and doing your best with the details in everything, you will set yourself up to be excellent in anything.
To the Class of 2015, I celebrate your future success in anything and everything. Grade 12s, I dedicate to you the applause you’re about to hear.
Congratulations.
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