To the class of 2025

Years ago, I asked a group of students what their excellence was. You see, I had just been introduced to an educator who shared a quote: “We must start their stories and identities with their excellence.” Many of the students who shared those reflections with me are sitting in this room today. I wish I could have found the video of your Grade 7 or 8 selves sharing what made you excellent, but much like my desk, my computer is currently a mixed-up pile of things. 

I am so excited and honoured to have the opportunity to pay tribute to this group, whom I have had the absolute pleasure of working with over the last six years. When starting this tribute, Mrs. Gilson suggested I should give ChatGPT a try. I imagine many of you in the room can picture my reaction to such a suggestion. Instead, I wanted to rely on the words of those who inspire me and share a bit of your stories.

As I look out on this room, I still see the girl who sat at the back reading Wuthering Heights in Grade 8, who has demonstrated all year long a level of service to her classmates that should inspire us all. I see the athletes-turned-poets, filmmakers, and writers, those who break through stereotypes and prove that you can be both an athlete and a creative powerhouse. I see the hockey player who surprised the room with a killer performance as Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, complete with an expertly crafted sock puppet. I see the Grade 9 students who wrote a TED Talk arguing why they shouldn’t have to do public speaking in school, and delivered it with such passion that they had the room on the edge of their seats. Tomorrow, one of those girls takes to the podium as this year’s valedictorian.

In this room today, we have a class that lives up to the quote from Dr. Muhammad that’s on the wall of Room 157: “Their stories and identities start with their excellence.”

We have composers, artists, athletes, aspiring doctors, lawyers, pilots, mechanics, nurses, and world-changers. I have had the absolute honour of reading their words, witnessing them being guided by their hopes and dreams, and I know they are going to go out into the world and do amazing things.

Speaking directly to the Class of 2025, I want you to remember the excellence you carry with you. Times won’t always be easy. Jason Reynolds shares in For Everyone : 

If you're like me,

 you struggle trying

 to stomp out the flame of doubt

 and fear,

 the warmth and comfort,

 always enticing

and familiar

though venomous

and life extinguishing.

I know people who

have burned.

A burn so violent

it can't be categorized

by any numbered degree.

I know people who

have burned

from foot to torso

Emotionally.

Legs of passion turn to soot.

Yet no matter how

hard I've tried

to escape it,

to kill the deceptive heat

dancing like a devil's tongue,

to douse it with all 

the will and faith

I can muster,

I know a tiny ember

always glows

beneath the brush. 

It whispers to me

only when I step to

the edge of Excellence. 

My toes clawing the cliff,

My mind already airborne.

It Whispers to me

that I don't have wings

that I don't have a shot

that I don't have a clue

but to me,

I don't have a choice,

so I jump

anyway.

Dreamer, if you're like me,

You

 Jump 

Anyway. 

There are always bumps in the road, but remember that you’ve always had a community to lift you up. Remember those voices, those cheerleaders who came to your basketball games and band concerts, who celebrated your acting, or learned the games of hockey and baseball just so they wouldn’t cheer at the wrong parts. We are all rooting for you to have joy and to succeed.

Your stories do not end here, you’re just starting a new chapter. Rudy Francisco has a poem Titled “The Peace Lily” that reads. 

The Peace Lily

Is a flower that can

Grow and survive 

Even if it’s left

In the shade.

See?

We don’t always 

Choose our environment

But we can’t let that

 stop us from blooming  

So to continue on the work we do in class,  I have a piece of paper here for all of you, and I would like a 400-word response analyzing the tone and structure of the poem… Just kidding.

The new chapter can be scary. Sometimes, like the Peace Lily, we must work through harsh environments and circumstances that make us question whether pursuing our dreams and goals is worth it. You will have doubts as you approach the edge of the unknown—but, like Jason Reynolds says in For Everyone: Jump anyway.

Go out into the world. Pursue your dreams. Chase after your goals. And know that at the very least, your English teacher, who has had the honour of reading your words, knows you will do great things.

I have five last pieces of advice I want to share as I wrap up:

1. Chase after life with the same dedication you had to the morning Wordle and Connections, and you will go places. But maybe save them for your break or breakfast… not at work—that might be frowned upon, and your boss probably won’t help you solve the puzzle.

2. If you can create perfectly crafted Ninja Turtle puppets to act out a scene from Much Ado About Nothing, there is nothing you can’t do.

3. Find beauty in moments and write about them—time with your dad learning to fish, cooking the family-famous chocolate sauce with your mom, the hours spent with siblings before they leave on a mission… or before you do. As it says on the wall in my classroom: “Writing makes you infinite.” Don’t let that talent go to waste.

4. Hold tight to your convictions. Like the Emperor says in Mulan: “No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bend to it.” Be like the mountain, or maybe we follow the words of Mufasa, “Remember who you are”... I have a gift card here for the first person who can tell me what type of Notice and Note signpost those are.

5. Remember you have left a mark on this little community and on each other through your acts of service, talents, performances, and kindness. Most of you start your term project by saying, “Mr. Gilson, I’m only in high school. I don’t have a legacy yet.” But as someone who has worked with you, some of you for six years, visited with you, laughed with you, solved Wordles, listened to your performances, watched you compete in gyms, arenas, and baseball diamonds all over this province, risked my life learning about sheep at 4H shows, and read your beautifully written reflections, I can assure you: You do.

Thank you, Class of 2025, for giving me the honour of working alongside you and witnessing the impact you have had on our community and the impact I know you will have on the world as you embark on the next chapter.