Page 11 - Priorities 3

Valedictorians
Gladys Martin
Jeanine Marie Sullivan Yost
The honor of Valedictorian is awarded to a member or members of the Senior class who have attended the Priory for at least three years and have the highest cumulative grade point average in the class. This year, for the first time in the Priory’s 39-year history, the honor was shared
by two students,whose grade point aver- ages are 4.05 and 4.057, respec- tively. Following are excerpts from their address, which they deliv- ered together.
First of all, we want to thank the boys behind us. We learned a lot from them. I learned whenever I talked in class,
some boy - usually Dan Lee - got in trouble.
I learned whenever I wanted to tell someone off
or push someone around, I just went and found Peter Adams. He even let me hit him.
We learned that we never had to act up or act out because Ross or Chester or Timmy or Drew or Mike Ferrari or Phil Chu would do it...
We learned to get what we wanted from teachers who thought that if they didn’t see things our way, it was a mortal sin, and we learned that Ben would tell them so.
Thank you, gentlemen. We think we’re ready to stand on our own feet and think and act for our- selves...
Thank you, Daddy, for letting go, and thank you, Mother, for getting him to do it.
Finally, to the Faculty and Administration, who, as (Albert) Schweitzer said “do not know what they gave us,” thank you...
Salutatorian
Clare Van Dalsem
The Salutatorian is selected by the faculty on the basis of significant academic, social and personal contributions to the Woodside Priory School community, as well as at least two years of attendance. Clare was described at the Graduation Exercises as one of the “pioneer women” on
the formerly all-boys campus, whose outgo- ing, energetic and upbeat personality have brought life and excitement to every aspect of Priory life. Following is an excerpt from Clare’s address:
I started school here 5 years ago, mostly because the ratio of
boys to girls was 15 to 1. Now that I can look back, I laugh at myself. I can’t believe I didn’t see all the reasons why I should go to the Priory and not some other place.
I realize now, after time, that coming to the Priory is a privilege. I have had first-hand experi- ence with other high schools, and can confidently say the Priory is special. Not just because of the old guys in the black robes, but in terms of the entire community: the students, the monks, the teachers, the class of ‘96. All of these contributing factors make up a huge chunk of our lives and it’s hard to believe we’re not coming back next year...But the Priory will never be replaced by anything, it will always be my home...Hopefully, the Class of ‘96 will remember the Priory as I plan on remembering it: as the beginning of the rest of my life.
Emanuel Tanay, M.D. Wayne State University Graduation Speaker
A noted psychiatrist and forensic scientist, Dr. Tanay became acquaint- ed with the Benedictines as a teen-age Jew during World War II, when he was sheltered for a time in a Benedictine monas- tery in Poland.
His commencement address was “Courage to Choose.”
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