Last night - March 8, 2023 - the Grade 12s celebrated their last 100 nights before graduation with the Elmwood tradition of the 100 Nights dinner. Grads were joined by their friends and classmates, their teachers, and alumni to celebrate all of their memories at Elmwood and to look ahead to the amazing things that await them in the future. We'd like to thank Carine Ladki '18 for giving the event's address and for speaking to the grads about her experience on life after Elmwood. We would also like to thank Joanna Rozanski '03 for her beautiful work on this year's grad rings, as she has given the students a gorgeous reminder of Elmwood that they can carry with them forever.
The Grade 12s enjoyed some delicious food made by the Bistro staff, listened to alum share their post-grad experiences, heard heartfelt send-off messages from Ms. Chin and Mr. Whitehouse, and enjoyed a special musical performance from Ms. Enticknap.
They obviously had to commemorate this special moment with some photos with their friends, which can all be found at this Google Photos link.
As is tradition at the 100 Nights Dinner, the students vote for a teacher to address the graduating class. This year, Ms Chin gave a beautiful and touching speech to the graduates. See Ms Chin's full address below.
Wishing our grads the best of luck in their next 100 days here at Elmwood, and we can't wait to see all the amazing things they accomplish next.
When I sit down to write a speech, the first thing that comes to mind is, who is the most important person in the room that needs to be addressed first. I think it goes without saying that tonight, it is you, the future grads and class of 2023. So this is for you.
Welcome class of 2023, alumni, Mr. Whitehouse, Ms. Enticknap, and fellow colleagues.
I feel the need to start with a few “housekeeping” items
Thank you to Stef Tadman because without Spirit Week, I don’t know that this speech would ever happen (although I’m not sure she knows the context of what is going to be said)
And thank you to Ms. Marquis for the quote that inspired the theme of this toast to the grads
But also thank you to the grads for volunteering me to speak on your behalf.
I think this has been the greater stress of my life for the last week - trying to figure out what I could say that would be inspiring, memorable or highlight how much I cherish the time and the honour it has been getting to know each of you - when really, I’m not sure what words could do all those things. So we might just have to settle on something out of the box.
As you the grads have been immersed in pink this week, we have none other than Stef for proposing this as the colour for Spirit War - cough - Week. I think that secretly, when the colour for grade 12 was announced, everyone was thanking their lucky stars that it was not *cringe, green. Poor grade 9’s. And while green is a wonderful colour that brings about thoughts of springtime, freshness, and hope. Green is also often used to symbolize rebirth and renewal and immortality.
All things aside, let’s face it, in this school, it brings about thoughts of having to wear a uniform everyday and generally looking like a tree between the hours of 8am - 4pm everyday of the week. I have been in your shoes and can say that the thought of wearing green for 10 years after I had graduated was slightly panic inducing - I can also tell you that it does not last.
All this brings me to this guy and his ever popular sentiment of “It’s not easy being green” and “having to spend each day being the colour of the leaves”, which I think I can lump myself in with the alumni and grads of the room saying that when we are wearing that form flattering blazer, I never felt more like a the colour of a leaf, or as mentioned before, the whole tree.
For those of you who have not heard the song, I feel like it is time for a “Muppification” as I take you through the highlights of Kermit’s best work. For 2 minutes, Kermit sings about how hard it is to be green. To be ordinary, to be missed in the crowd.
As Kermit laments about how he is ordinary because he seemingly blends in with everything as he tries to woo the glamorous Miss Piggy, Kermit seems to lose himself in what truly matters for the first minute. Soon the moment passes and Kermit comes to realize just how big of an impact being green really is, “green can be big, like a mountain, or important, like a river, or tall like a tree” - See the tree theme again?
Just like Kermit, we can lose ourselves in the moment, forgetting all the important things that we are or that green is associated with greatness.
While we wonder about what the world holds for us, what the future may bring - will be blend in with the crowd or how to make our mark on the world before us - we will always be a part of the greatness that started here. Or better yet, the greenness that started in these halls.
Congratulations to the upcoming class of 2023.