Page 56 - 1953

STAYNER VALEDICTORY ADDRESS
Once more it is time for another graduating class to•pro- nounce its ValedictorJr- to classmat.es, to teachers, and -to the school which has been the centre of our lives for the last four years.
I am honoured this evening by having been asked to express this message of farewell on behalf of the gradua- ting class of I95~.
Farewells are usually tinged with sadness - and so we would be unfeeling if we d:l.d not experience some pangs of loss and regret at this leavetaking.
We know that the memories of many incidents are firmly ensconced in our minds - incidents which we frequently took for granted when they happened. Classroom activities - and sometimes I must admit, inactivities, Field Days, parties, Commencements - all these experiences are certain to assume
almost magic qualities in our minds as the years roll by.
We feel grateful to all wh:> contributed toward giving us the opportunity of garnering these experiences throughout our years in Stayner High School, to the citizens whose financial support keeps our school system functioning to those v1~0 have spent long hours planning and executing the management of our school - and to our parents who have continually encouraged us.
We say thank you to the teachers - and wish to assure them that everything they said did not fall on barren ground, as may frequently have seemed the case.
It is a trite but very true saying that "Education is a continuing process of growth and development". Education in this sense not only means book learn- ing but also learning to live successfully and happily. We know that we have gained many valuable lessons in living during the past four years. Knowledge has come to us through classroom instruction and from extra-curricular activities in the after class hours with our fellow students.
Now, almost imperceptibly, the time has come for us to face reality and to commence applying in a more definite way, some of the high precepts and princi- ples which have been plaoed before us. Each member of the class for which I am spokesman this evening 1~ doing his utmost to make adequate preparations for a future career, preparation8 calculated to enable him to fill a useful place in society. In this way we may partly justify the faith and confidence that we now realize has been placed in us, and in some measure at least, do credit to our school and its teachings.
Our future as young people in this magnificent nation of Canada to-day is almost breathtaking in its possibilities. We sincerely trust and pray that we may be endowed with the courage and strength of purpose necessary to do our part in making certain that that future materializes - unmarred and glorious. Then we shall experience in actual fact the thought expressed by Tennyson in his poem "Lockesley Hall":
"For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see,
Saw the vision of the world and all the wonder that would be."
Dorothy-Anne Wheeler
54