Dear Seniors,
Congratulations to the largest senior class to graduate from Grady since
I have been your principal. You also have another distinction, and that
is that 252 of you started at Grady in the eighth grade. This is a record
for the school as far as I can find. There have, of course, been many honors
awarded to members of the class, most of which will be enumerated at the
graduation exercises. I would like to congratulate this class on the senior
play and in the manner in which all details were handled.
It has been a pleasure to work with your student officers and your co-presidents. I can assure you that they have looked after your interests well.
Although these five years have passed rapidly, tremendous changes have taken place in your body, in your mind, and in the world about you. I am sure that if you could relive the past five years you would work much harder. Some of you who did the least in the early years are working the hardest now. You can not recover lost time for yourselves, but perhaps you can influence the younger students not to waste time and to always do their best. This would be a fine contribution to make to society and be a fitting memorial to your days at Grady.
Wishing for you the very best in life, I am
Sincerely,
R. H. Derthick
We never shall come back again
But over us all, over us all
Over us all is--something.
Thomas Wolfe
The Job Is Not Yet Done
By CHARLES EPSTEIN
For five years now, the class of '65 has been mirrored on these pages.
This is the last edition of the Southerner which will be directed to that
class. For the seniors on the Southerner, this final paper means something
deep. We hope we have served Grady well this year; we hope that those who
follow us will serve her even better.
Like the Southerner, Grady itself is passing into new hands. We hope that those of you who remain will continue the job we have attempted. That task is now yoursto cherish and preserve the traditions we have given you; and perhaps, where we have fallen down, to better them.
And yet, for those of us who are leaving, the job is not yet done. The traditions of Grady have become a part of us, and we cannot ever abandon them. While at Grady, each of us has discovered something that he values--a habit, an idea, a way of looking at life; whatever it is, we must preserve it in ourselves as we have cherished it in our school. The things we value are not like a scaffold, to be torn away when this portion of our lives has been completed; in a very real sense, they are that life, and in them our lives have their strongest foundation.