In 1954, I was a foundation pupil at Papakura High School, and from then to now, Jeanette and I are still the greatest of friends, We have shared our children’s births, sadness as friends from those days have died, Jocelyn, we remember you always, sadness as one by one our parents have gone, family illness, happiness at times, joy as we meet, very occasionally, and more.
In 1957, I was awarded a Prefect’s Badge, along with 19 others. Arch Campbell was our headmaster, a fair and honest man who ran the school with a firm hand, and was so respected.
How hard is it to take a photo of that badge today? The silver reflected my face, the camera, background objects, but with some Silvo and polish, only a few marks of wear and tear show. ( Yes, I am the great keeper of all things memorable!!)
SUMMA PETE
Translated “ Aim for the Highest”
Can you find me???
This week at Rotorua Lakes High School, prefects’ badges were presented to the students who had been elected by the staff and pupils of Year 12, at the end of 2014. NCEA awards were also given out for those who passed with Merit or Excellence. Annette was there , and then another photo of Josh with his mates. We are so proud, and now I wonder how my parents felt back in 1957!! The buttonholes were of fresh flowers , and they all were able to keep them. Thanks, Josh, for permission to post these photos, they are also on Facebook. Congratulations to all the students who received an award or a badge, or both.
Then, this graduation medal and photo must surely be here as well.My Mum, Grace Gold Phairn, graduated as a “Mental Health Nurse” in 1931, There were 73 nurses who sat their finals in December, a total of 5 achieved First Grade, my Mum was the only one in Nelson, and her marks of 84% the highest in the written paper. She didn’t talk much about those days, and only recently I found this on the Government website. So I can be again so proud of our family, those gone, and those here today.
Quotation of the day, from Eleanor Roosevelt
“ The future belongs to those who believe
in the beauty of their dreams”
Greetings from Jean
15 comments:
multi-generational pride. :) how very cool.
My guess is that you are not in the top row. ;) Are you next to the last in the center row? What wonderful looking young men! I'm not overly impressed with those blazers, but the boys make them look good!
And there,I thought I had changed a lot,, well done Georgia. And yes, across 3 generations, well, 4 if I include my Mum, I'll add some words to my post, edit and re-post it.
Such fresh young faces with bright futures ahead. Sentiments make the world a warmer place and sharing makes it so much more meaningful. Thank you for sharing this. Stay well. Carol
It must be wonderful for you to see Josh awarded with the same badge as you were. I bet your heart swelled with pride. Wonderful!
I hope that you and Hugh are well.
A wonderful happy post with so much to be happy and grateful about.
Nice post, you must be very proud.. I would say your family believed in their dreams..have a happy day!
What a beautiful post! You should be proud of yourself and your family. Just lovely.
I'm off to sit with my hospice client today. He has ALS.
Hope all is well with you and yours!
Hugs, & talk later!
Dear Jean ~ What a lovely post about you and your family! Quite a few accomplishments to be proud of.
Love & hugs to you and Hugh ~ FlowerLady
I didn't look at any of the above guesses (if there are any) but I think you are the girl in the first row to the right.
How nice that you have these wonderful memories, Jean, and you kept that great medal/badge.
You will soon need a 'medal rack' to carry and display all these family achievement medals!!
Congratulations to all of you!
Yes, Jim, you are right, I'm second from the right in the second row, sadly some of those have gone, others not well, one friend not in the prefects and I have kept in touch since 1954!!! Long distance phone calls, visits rare, but we have shared so much over all these years.As well as being practical, resourceful, I am the " keeper" of the Black Belt standard in our family.
Yes! I found you and I see you confirmed it in the comment above. I love how you tied your families accomplishments together. I am so proud for you all. Mental Health Nurse in the 1930's. I am impressed.
I will have to try to find you on Facebook.
I found you too, Nancy. It was your eyes that gave you away! What a lovely family history, a story of accomplishment and character! I really enjoyed learning about the then and now in your family history. What your mother achieved was super. I'm sure that she was proud of you and would have been proud of Josh, too! Take care!
Congratulations to Josh! You have every reason to be proud. I'm glad someone else was able to pick you out in the photo because I was having a difficult time. :)
Congrats to your whole family! Josh sure is a cutie!
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