Page 6 - 2020 Priory Yearbook

004
A dedication is a solemn affair - One humorists must surely beware. But to speak on behalf
of an extraordinary staff,
Only laughter can capture their care.
Now, there is one place in all Priory school
Where any kid can just play it cool. Where you can laugh, take a nap, Or fix your bad rap
When you maybe might have broken a rule.
Is it the classrooms, which students bemoan?
or Schilling Square, which we call our own?
The gym, or the track,
the garden, the PAC,
the haunted house, with its weeds overgrown?
No, these places are great, I can vouch,
But all my memories there seem to slouch
when I try to compare
this bland everywhere
to the comfort of Brian Schlaak’s couch.
I’ve spent many an hour lying still atop this great, pillowy hill Studying paintings on walls
and green bowling balls,
not sure where this couch gets its chill.
It’s cushions have fluff, to be sure, But in a room of questionable decor, for resting my brain
from everyday strain,
Not the couch, but the man, matters more.
To some he may seem rather gruff; His orientation speech sure scares enough.
But it’s plain to see
From his own integrity,
Inside, he’s a marshmallow puff.
I first met Mr. Schlaak as a child at family summer camp, where he wasn’t so mild.
Though he’s rarely mature, serious, or demure,
at Camp Blue he’s especially wild.
His eccentricities are rather bizarre He drives trucks or motorcycles instead of a car.
People frequently gape
at his tattoos of shapes,
and his caches of jokes never lie far.
But though he has friendly moments of lunacy,
Mr. Schlaak runs our school with great prudency.
And whether he’s causing our fears, or calming our tears,
he understands the students with fluency.
I’m not sure he knows how much he became
The pillar ‘round which our school made its name.
Brian’s spreading of smiles
formed the Priory style,
and without him, we just won’t be the same.
So, for always having our backs, for fighting to keep us on track, and for the many great years
of our lives that you’ve steered, We’d like to thank you, Mr. Schlaak.
- Class of 2020 written by Grant Whitman
dear
MR. SCHLAAK