Opening Day

During assembly on Monday, August 30, Head of School Andy Abbott, senior class president Sydney Philpott and student body president Keaton Wetzel welcomed students, faculty and staff. Their prepared remarks follow and some campus candids from Day One can be found at http://www.jburroughs.org/news-and-events/campus-candids/openin-day-candids

ANDY ABBOTT
The first day of school is a special day all across this country—we are all full of new beginnings... 

It is a joyful time but to me it is also a humbling time.

It is humbling to stand here because this is truly a special place. 

It is humbling because it is a beautiful place we come to each day. From the prairie garden and Laughing Lake on one side of campus; through the quadrangle where we gather; and past the art galleries, where your art hangs, and the gardens along the buildings, which are tended with care.

Through graduation grove where a canopy of trees surround the stage where I hope you will all one day march.

To the far reaches of the north where the beehives sit by the old lodge and the birdhouses rest in the fields which spread out and fade into the woods. 

It is a physically beautiful space that we come to each day.  

It is humbling because I think of the faculty that will come each day to teach you and to work beside you in the classrooms, in the studios and on the athletic fields.   

This is the finest group of teachers and coaches that I know of. They are passionate about their subjects, they are knowledgeable, and they love to teach. They have devoted their lives to what I believe is the noblest profession. They are here for your sake. They are here because they—like you—want to make the world a better place.    

It is humbling because I look at all of you. You are curious, you are kind. You love to have fun, you love to laugh, you love to learn, you love to compete, you love to win, you love to argue with your teachers and with one another, and you love to help one another.  

It is humbling because so many wonderful men and women have taught and learned here over the years—the history of this school is real and it is powerful. 

The next group to take their place in the history of this school is right behind me. I want to give a special welcome to the members of the class of 2011—all 103 of you. This class recently traveled to Drey Land together to have fun and to think about the year ahead.  

It has become a tradition that the senior class sits on stage on the first day of school and again at the senior assembly, your last at Burroughs. And in between those days we are looking forward to your leadership. 

So now I would like to ask senior class president Sydney Philpott to come to the podium.

SYDNEY PHILPOTT
Good morning, Mr. Abbott, faculty, staff and students. Let’s start with a little math problem, shall we? Seventh graders, pull out your sparkly new calculators and punch in 6 X 166. You will get 996. Subtract one. That’s how many days you have left at Burroughs. Eighth graders, since you lost your calculators last spring, I’ll just tell you that you have 830 days left…and so on. My fellow seniors, we have a mere 141 days left.

These numbers may seem daunting but, trust me, they will go by faster than you think. I still remember my first day of seventh grade. I had all 995 days ahead of me and thought that I would never get to where I am today. As I think back on my time here I am flooded with memories. Of course, I don’t remember each of the 830 days I’ve spent here. But among all the ordinary days, unexpectedly, you will stumble on a special one. That’s the day that seems like any other day, until it isn’t.

In the fall of seventh grade, I was walking to my Spanish class by myself. I heard someone walking behind me. I turned to see a small girl carrying a stack of books so giant that it blocked her vision. She let out a tiny squeal as the top book started to fall. I knew there was no hope; the whole stack was coming down. All of her books cascaded down the stairs. There was the tiny blonde girl, frazzled and forlorn with her skinny arms dangling sadly at her sides. I instinctively started grabbing the books, binders and a badly-scratched scientific calculator, helping to rebuild her stack. I recognized the girl, but we re-introduced ourselves. She said her name was Vanessa. She thanked me profusely for helping her. We decided to sit together in Spanish. That trip down the stairs started just like any other, but within an instant it turned out to be the beginning of a life-long friendship.

In April of eighth grade, we were returning from our last day of community service. Our carpool had been late that day and so our group was the last one back to school. That year the big prize at the Potpourri raffle was the new video iPod. Our class had a running joke that since we missed assembly when the prizes were announced that we would run around telling random victims they had won. I remember getting out of the car and a swarm of people ran up to me in a frenzy. Everyone was trying to talk at once, but they were all saying the same thing, “You won, You won! Sydney, you won the iPod!” I laughed and pushed pass the crowd, skeptical about the validity of their claims. As I walked down the hallway to the window outside the bookstore, I was repeatedly congratulated. I started to believe that the mob may have actually been telling the truth this time. When I arrived at the window I saw the pristine video iPod with my name attached to it. I had never won anything before. I was ecstatic. That final day of community service had seemed just like the rest of the week, but within the course of five minutes the day went from mundane to a memory that I will never forget.

Then there was the time in tenth grade when Mr. Pierson explained that he didn’t offer extra credit because adding a drop to his full cup only spills water. And I’ll never forget the mad dash to find dates to our first seventh and eighth grade dance only to have Ms. Childress tell us we couldn’t have dates. I still laugh when I think about the spider crawling out of Eli’s backpack in Mrs. Harris’ math class. In eleventh grade, Mr. Newman had us throw toilet paper in the air and teachers thought students were tee-peeing the school. Mr. Newman had to explain that it was part of our photography project.

All of these memories occurred on days that started like every other day. Throughout our lives, we will have many uneventful and forgettable days, but occasionally a special day will have an impact on us and create an unforgettable memory.

The other day I was talking to my eight-year-old sister, Abby,  who looked worried. She somberly asked me what my family was going to do with my room when I am gone. I was shocked by this question mostly because I am not going anywhere for a whole year. Abby has heard my family talking about college so much over the past few months that she thought I was leaving tomorrow. The more I thought about it, I began to realize how quickly a year can go by. Seniors, we have been at Burroughs for five years, and that time has flown by. It turns out my little sister was not so wrong in asking me what my family should do with my room. The next step might actually be closer than you expect.

You never know when something that might at one time seem insignificant can have a huge impact on your life. So get busy making memories. Never forget the people you share them with and the place that brought you together, John Burroughs. Have fun together whether you have 995 days or only 141 left. Believe me, when that number dwindles to one, you will want to look back on your time here with a smile.

KEATON WETZEL
Usually, the student body president begins by telling some anecdote about their summer or something similar. I would, but I had a really average summer. At Aim High, I tried to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged kids but failed to learn how to Dougie. It was an amazing experience—it always is—but it was one that I shared with a lot of the Burroughs community so I suspect that many of you know the lessons of Aim High firsthand. The next part of these speeches, particularly the formulaic ones, asks me to convince all of you to attend more school functions, games, and what not, using a catchy theme.

If you think my acknowledging the contrived nature of the theme means that I don’t totally have one prepared, think again. Okay, so briefly, the reason that all of you should attend Burroughs events? There are a million reasons. Aside from the chance to see the Bombers in action, when you go to a game, you support your friends in the easiest way there is. If your friend is having a bad day, and you go watch her field hockey game, you’ve showed her that you care. And people play better when they know that other people care about the team. The football team is always really lucky to have tons of fans, but I think it would be amazing if we could get a similar turnout for, for example, the swim team, whose members work just as hard. And it’s not limited to sports. Everyone who attended last spring’s play still remembers Ted Grace’s hilariousness as the fabulous Roger and how Lily Strassner’s character Marjorie was—spoiler alert—dead onstage for like ten minutes before anyone noticed. So going to the plays can be as entertaining as watching the Bombers battle, say, a certain school off Warson whose mascot is a ram. No, not Ladue…

At any rate, here’s the idea:  If you go to or participate in a sport, show, or club this year, you’ll get benefits that go beyond entertainment. I mean, yeah, our plays are hilarious, our sports teams kick butt, and The World has the hottest cover model of any school publication around. But when you support that kind of thing, you also really contribute to the whole Burroughs community. Like killing two birds (or Rams, as the case may be) with one stone, yeah, that’s a little cliché, but sometimes there’s nothing wrong with that. With that in mind, I declare this the Year of One Stone. Get excited.

This year—and they say it every year, but this time we have a catch phrase—this year, I hope to actually see everyone at school events. And we’re making sure that there are plenty to attend. Spirit Week is next week, and because there are only three days of school, no one has an excuse to not dress up and go all out. That Tuesday, is, ahem, red and green day, where you wear Wash U colors to, um, support Burroughs! Seventh graders, ask your senior sibling what to wear. Wednesday is senior t-shirt day. Don’t worry about it—it will be shmawesome. And next Friday, we have the pep rally and bonfire, and while Burroughs is no longer allowed to burn a ram in effigy, I think it’ll still be amazing. But aside from the standard Burroughs events to get pumped for, stay tuned for Harry Potter Day, That '70s Day, Chill Day, and a No Homework Day. Just kidding!—this is Burroughs. But we’re going to have as many cool events as we can fit into one year. The thing is, though, these dress-up days and so on only work if lots of people participate.

So, Mr. Abbott, faculty, the classes of 2016, ’15, ’14, ’13, ’12, and ’11, this will be a great year. Go support your friend in a game after school today, pick up a copy of The World, and enjoy yourself.

Thank you.

ANDY ABBOTT
As I mentioned before, this is our 88th year. The school was founded in 1923 by a group of parents who sought to create a new type of education—a more progressive type of education and an education in which was more inclusive than had existed before in the city. It would be coeducational and students and teachers would have a voice in the school; these were new ideas at the time. 

As most of you know, you can flip through the panes [on the first floor of the Brauer Building] and see photos of every student who ever graduated from the school and of all of the teachers who were here for more than a decade—it's moving to do so periodically, to see the faces of those who came before us and to know that we are all part of the same great community.   

It is with those people in mind, and the fact that the school was founded, literally 87 years ago, that I say to you this morning: 

Four score and seven years ago our forebearers brought forth on this city, a new school!