This has definitely been a different kind of year. Here is a video of my message to the grads of 2020 with the script below. Congratulations again to all our graduates!
It is my pleasure to bring congratulatory greetings to our graduating class of 2020.
If I were giving this speech in February, I would have expected great cheers for being the Superintendent who gave you 2 snow days in your grade 12 year! Of course, there can be too much of a good thing, and I am sorry that the final three months of this thirteen-year journey were not in school with your friends and your teachers.
I know Mr. Rauh, Mr. Anderson, Ms. Tanfara, and the staff at West Vancouver wish the same. I am glad we are all virtually here together to share this occasion.
Like everyone else in our province, under the guidance of Dr. Henry, you have totally nailed this social distancing thing and here we are to celebrate the full 13 years of experiences.
You are graduating at an anxious time in our world, but also at a very exciting time. You can feel the social change that is sweeping British Columbia, Canada, and the World, and it is being led by the young.
I have seen this in the last few years as you led the changes around sexual orientation and gender identity – you told us it was ridiculous that adults were debating about bathrooms, you told us you wanted to learn more about Indigenous history particularly the Squamish Nation, and then this past fall you joined millions of students across the world to make the case for prioritizing the health of our planet, and just in the last few weeks, many of you have reached out to me directly and told me that Black Lives Matter and we all need to do a better job of anti-racism education. I hear you. We all hear you. And I am excited to be part of a world which you, the graduates of 2020 will help shape and lead. You will be the ones to protect our planet and change our world.
In this grad class we have graduates about to embark on post-secondary careers across Canada, North America, and the world.
No pressure – but West Vancouver graduates are difference makers. Whether it is in government, the social sector or with our highest performing companies, one rarely has to look far to find West Vancouver grads. And me, your teachers, and really all of all us are counting on you – to be unwaveringly committed to a strong public education system – the system that has served us all well and is the answer to the question about how we build a better world.
I know students that you and your parents have options – so thank you for your faith, trust and commitment to public education in West Vancouver.
While many often talk about how slowly education shifts, and how your schooling largely resembles that of your parents – you are leaving a very different system than you entered. You leave a school and a school system that is digitally rich, that is focused on allowing you to follow your passions, a school system that embraces problem solving and student ownership.
At its core, our schools, your experiences, have been rooted in the connections you have made with fellow students and teachers. We are blessed to have an amazing teaching force. Of course, they have outstanding training and always looking to improve their teaching – I am sure very few had ever had a Google Hangout before April. Our teachers see teaching as a way of life – far more than a job. You know that from the teams they coach, to the productions they plan to the extra help they give you with homework or helping you navigate life.
And it is their relationships with you and your relationships with each other than are defining of the high school experience. It is these that will endure and be the stories you tell years from now – about people and events. The content of courses will fade but how you felt will stay with you.
While personalization and specialization have their place, we have tried to offer a well-rounded education – so do not let this go. Yes English, socials, science and math matter. But just as much do drama, music, art, and athletics. Aristotle was right when he said, “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”
I know we have graduates who will forever talk about their food class with Ms. Seo, their IB discussions with Mr. Capier, or playing volleyball for Mrs. Finch. Hold these memories tightly.
It is a unique bond you have. The grads of the COVID year.
Decades from now, you will tell stories unlike those of any graduates before or likely after. Embrace this. Graduating is a big achievement under any circumstances but that is particularly true this year.
It is an amazing honour I have to be Superintendent of this school district – a jurisdiction like no other in our country. My thanks to your parents for their support, to your teachers for their dedication and to you for enriching our school and community.
All the best for a wonderful graduation.
Go and chart our path forward.
Stay safe.
Thank You.
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