Programme director
The Principal, Mr Anthony Adams
Staff of the academy
Recipients of certificates
Guests
Thank you for the opportunity to address the achievers from grade one to nine today. I am as excited as a child to be here and to see who is receiving a diploma for excellent work. I am excited because I know how hard each one of the learners worked throughout the year and that their work is now acknowledged by the school.
I am very appreciative of the efforts that every educator made to educate the learners of Zwaanswyk. I know that 2009 was a tough year for educators and apart of the academic work, they had to deliver sport and cultural training as well. I want to say to the principal, Mr Anthony Adams, and his staff, well done for excellent work done with our children!
The work rendered cannot be measured in monetary terms, but in the manner in which these young children conduct themselves in the community today and tomorrow. I want to congratulate the parents of these learners whose work we all celebrate today. I am a parent myself and I know how good it feels to witness your child’s academic, sport and cultural achievements. But I also know that keeping your child motivated to go back to school each day and sometimes to face their own challenges, was hard work as well! However, I am sure that these exercises helped to form and establish your child's character.
Dear teachers and parents. My prayers are that you continue to educate our children by setting good examples, but also equip them with knowledge, skills and good values so that they will have a positive attitude towards life and become productive citizens one day.
To our guests of honour, our young achievers; I want to talk to you about two things very shortly, that is (1) failing in our tasks and (2) giving service to others.
In Afrikaans: (1) Om soms te moet misluk en (2) om ons medemens te dien.
Ek is baie seker dat 2009 vir elkeen van julle nie altyd maklik was nie. Baie moes verskeie struikelblokke oorkom om vandag hier ‘n diploma te kan ontvang.
Daar was van julle wat wou tou opgooi. Dan het julle by die huis gekla dat julle nie meer van skoolgaan hou nie of dat jy nie meer van Wiskunde hou nie of nie meer vir die rugby-oefeninge wil gaan nie.
Yes, maybe there were times when you had to make big decisions, to motivate yourself by saying: Yes, I CAN do it! Of I will NOT give up. I want to say to you today, it is not the end of the world when you fail. It is only the end of the world when you don’t stand up. I want to give you some wise words of Barack Obama, the President of the United States of America:
“Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it’s not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won’t. It’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it, whether you choose to persevere”.
Dear learners, the reason that you sit here today is because you are champions!
Only, because you chose to overcome your obstacles and to persevere until you succeed.
Ek voel trots vandag en opgewonde om in jul geselskap te kan staan. Die selfvertroue en toewyding wat ek in julle waarneem, gee my eintlik hoendervleis!
Liewe leerders. Tweedens wil ek vir julle iets belangriks vra, namens die mense van die Wes Kaap en Suid Afrika. Dit is dieselfde vraag wat ek vir onderwysers, ouers, verpleegsters, bestuurders, polisie offisiere, maatskaplike werkers, verkeerbeamptes,loodgieters, wie ook al vra: Dien jou medemens, ongeag hul kleur, godsdiens, geslag, agtergrond, nasionaliteit, met respek in woord en in daad.
It is when you treat other people with respect and when you give something of yourself to that person that you can help change or improve the life of others.
This you do when you help you class mate with his or her sums, or you help in the garden of the old age home or collecting clothes for the foster home.
Dear learners, you are now in the best position of your life to learn about and execute these good services. Do not wait until you are old and frail. You CAN help to change our world and by doing this our schools, communities our province and our country will be a safer place for all. The future is indeed in your hands.
I want to end off with the very fitting and wise words of the American freedom fighter, Martin Luther King Junior who once stated:
“Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love”.
I want to ask every learner here today to turn to the one next to you, shake his or her hand and say to him or her: You did well, Champion!
I thank you.
