From Judy Raddysh

Principal, Gulf Islands Secondary

Honoured Guests, Families, and Graduates of 2009

You’ve made it! This is your grad ceremony. The hard work, dedication, commitment, involvement, homework, practices, games, tears and laughter have all led you to this day. The end and the beginning. Today you’ll finish off thirteen years of school and head off on your next adventure. Pretty exciting!

I am honoured to be able to speak to you as your Principal, your teacher, your coach, your team mate, your friend, and, for at least one of you, your mom. This speech is a hard one to give – because it’s meant to capture the character of your class. It’s supposed to tell you what makes you special to us as we send you off into your adult life. And that’s not easy because there are so many unique individuals– but it’s kind of fun.

As I’ve thought about this class – you – and spoken to you over the past few weeks, I’ve enjoyed many smiles and great memories – I’ve been with you for a long time.

Galiano grads – you were in grade one! Teagan reminded me about a month ago that I had pulled out her first tooth!

Fulford grads – you were in grade 4. Remember Rigel leading re-enactments of historic battles in the woods at recess?

And then there are lots of you who I met at SIMS when I coached Tsunami basketball – Aunabeth, at a tournament in Duncan, discovered that she liked basketball and, even more, she liked to win!

And then there was Honour Choir and Swim Club and Saturday morning soccer and all of the other things that we, your parents, drove you to. Your families and mine have been woven together in many ways.

Some of you were new to me when I came to GISS in your grade 9 year – and since then we’ve worked together through projects, events, timetable changes, the invention of tutorials, the canceling of tutorials, a protest about tutorials and the re-invention of tutorials in the form of X blocks. We’ve played together in the gym. I’ve watched with pride as you’ve performed at ArtSpring or even the multi purpose room or stairwell at the end of the hall. And many of you have been to my home and I’ve been to many of yours. So there’s a lot we’ve shared. In fact, Kaeli and Steph even share my birthday!

But what about this class and its character? What will we think of when we remember you? Well – you’re smart. Not just smart – intelligent, clever, thoughtful, brilliant, forward thinking, aware and informed. That’s you.

A big clue about how smart you are was last year’s awards ceremony. As each grade was called up for their honour roll certificates they lined up and faced the audience. But not you! You made a circle in a circle – you had to because there were just so many of you! The number of marks you’ve earned in the 90% range is incredible. And Zoe, your top student, is walking out of here with multiple 100% marks on her transcript! Many people think universities choose their students – but not in your case. You chose them because you could because of your marks and your involvement. Yes – you are an academically smart class!

But there’s more to smart than your marks in school. Some of you have made some really smart choices in your time at GISS. Braedon has been running his own excavating business on Pender for a few years. Patrick has been writing a pretty regular article for the Driftwood as he heads toward a career in journalism. Brad has traveled to Victoria each week and is graduating with a pilot’s license. Chris Carpenter has competed in Skills Canada and won some recognition for his brilliance in computer programming. Benji and Julian have completed college level one Cook Training, and Nick has finished first year college both as a Cook and as a Carpenter!

Some of you planned so well that you didn’t even have to be here all year to graduate – you finished grade 12 in one semester.

Others in this class made smart choices for themselves by following alternate pathways. Geneva and Benji designed their own high school programs and are proudly graduating from our Phoenix program. Lily finished off grade 12 on Pender, and Asia and Camille finished off grade 12 by email. Spencer actually considered GISS itself to be an alternate pathway – he’s come over on the ferry from Crofton to go here and now to graduate. Several of you have chosen to come to GISS from abroad - and Evan has been with you so long that I bet you forgot he’s an international student, too. James, Cali, Britney and Matt all enjoyed a semester or two on Saturna at our SEEC program. And Michael, your adult grad, made a smart choice to finish off high school and graduate with his daughter, Asia.

And then there are the artists. This is the first class ever to submit full portfolios to the College Board for Advanced Placement. Sara, Jasper, Teagan and Danica all completed college-quality art portfolios while they were at GISS – and that should earn them some first year credit.

But smart isn’t the whole picture. You are also the most responsible, respectful, committed group of young people we’ve seen. In grade 11 we noticed that you were quietly leading the leadership programs in the school and Kelsey, Ryder and Liz organized the amazing Environmental Action Day. In grade 12, you’ve organized, led, facilitated, tutored, stage-managed, directed, legislated, donated, volunteered, taught, mentored and composted. In fact – when I thought about who or what I might mention as notable I realized that there are just so many of you who give yourselves and your time so generously! You are an involved bunch and you take on responsibility with a smile. It has had such a positive impact on our whole school….

And your leadership shows on the playing field, too. Three senior teams - Boys Volleyball, Swimming and Girls Soccer - qualified for provincials with you at the forefront. And Hal is our first-ever Nationals qualifier in rowing. Among you are some who will continue to lead their teams at university: Mers, Emily, Olivia, Monique and Chris have all been selected to play on a university sports team. Wow! You are a class of amazing, clever, hardworking, helpful leaders who bring out the best in your teams and the people you work with – and sometimes that means that you bring out the best in us – your teachers.

So I’d like to end with one last memory. When you were about 7 years old I was walking on the beach on Galiano with Jesse and Meredith, and we found a bottle with a map of Wallace Island in it and, you guessed it, a great big X which we figured marked “the spot”. So we loaded up in the boat and headed out to Wallace with our shovels. We followed the markings on the map, and sure enough, I’m not going to lie, we found a buried treasure! It was a great adventure, and also a great lesson for life: when you’re wondering where to go or what to do next: follow your map, and you’re bound to find your treasure….

So thank you for being everything we had hoped you would be: smart, wise, clever, intelligent, caring, involved, in charge, respectful and just plain great. This afternoon is your celebration, so sit back and enjoy. You are truly special and very much loved. And, quoting a certain Valentine’s Day prankster who made the whole staff smile for a few days, remember, as you go through life, that “All You Need Is Love”.

Grad 09