Rock legend Alice Cooper was asked “What are the greatest three minutes in your life so far?” Cooper gave two answers and his second answer was “the last three minutes of the last day of school.” He compared that time period to a fuse slowly burning and said to himself, “If I can capture those three minutes in a song, it’s going to be big”. This was the inspiration for his first hit single, “School’s Out For Summer”. It is still listed as one of the most popular rock songs of all-time and (if you believe everything you read on the internet) still a popular song at graduation dances and proms!

As a student, I don’t remember every “last day of school” but I do know that I didn’t want every year to end as quickly as it did. I knew my family was moving to the big city of Windsor after my Grade 4 year, so that was the first year that I found to be bittersweet. Even though I was in a small, rural school for Grade 8, my classmates ended up being at three different high schools so that day (along with graduation night) was both exciting and sad. Grade 13 (yes, I am THAT old) was an even more interesting experience as every graduate acted like we couldn’t wait to get out of high school but we were secretly wishing they could be seniors forever.

Our own students will no doubt feel the same way on their last day of school. The Grade 4s at the Primary Campus (some of whom have only known one school building in their six-year academic career) will parade through the hallways to the applause of the rest of the student body, staff and parents. Our TEAM and Mentor Grade 8 graduates know that while most of them stay for high school, tomorrow’s graduation night will be the last time they will all be together (or as the song goes: “Out for summer, Out ’til fall”. Our Grade 12 students, most of whom have already accepted a spot in post-secondary education, are just like me back in 1985; they are saying to themselves that they are “so done with high school” but there is a wish that they could make it last a bit longer. Mr. Whyte and I were in the Main Campus parking lot yesterday one hour after the last examination thinking that a group of Grade 12s might need some “supervising” but in reality, they were just standing around soaking up the last day of their high school career and joking with their friends that they should stay one more year…

I know we will see many parents at the academic assemblies for our JK to Grade 7 students tomorrow and that we will see parents, siblings and extended families of our Grade 8 graduates tomorrow night but if we don’t get the opportunity, I would like to thank you on behalf of the staff, the principals, Mr. Macdonald and Mr. Philbrook for the privilege of working with your children this year. Whether 2014-2015 was your 1st year at the school, your 14th or somewhere in-between, we thank you for your trust and hope that we met your expectations…and then surpassed them.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College/TEAM School