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Dr. Mary Smith Addresses National Honor Society Inductees
Special thanks to Dr. Mary Smith for serving as the keynote speaker during the 2023 National Honor Society Induction. Please find a transcript of her speech below:
Good evening everyone. I am honored to have been asked to give this induction speech tonight by the officers of the National Honor Society. Firstly, I wondered, why me? But then I thought, well… my class is across the hall from the NHS sponsor, so I was just in the right place at the right time. Since being invited, I have been racking my brain about what to say to this elite group of students. I thought about talking about the four pillars of the National Honor Society: Service, Character, Scholarship, and Citizenship. But then, I figured that if I discussed how important these traits are to your school experience, I would just be preaching to the choir. You all here tonight already recognize the importance of giving your best effort academically, being of service to your community, showing a strong ethical and moral compass, and being the best version of yourself every day. So, instead of telling you what you already know, I want to talk about how you all impact the lives of others around you. Then it hit me that maybe this is why I was invited to speak tonight. I immensely value the Canterbury community and the incredibly important role students play in its creation.
Canterbury is a community; a family. And, while you may not see it yet, your days at Canterbury will not be remembered through your interaction with the faculty and staff nearly as much as they will be marked by your interactions with one another. When someone says “community” it can be easy to picture a large faceless group of people. It feels big and unfamiliar, but when I say “community,” I see my 1st-period class. That’s a community. I see the Spanish Congreso team, that’s a community. I see my department of world language teachers, that’s a community. And, the impact of the students on our community here at Canterbury cannot be overstated. The students are the community; and, though it may be hard to believe, the students are the main influencers of who we are as a school. It can be easy for teenagers to think that they do not have a lot of power or don’t make a difference. And, sure, there are rules to follow and things you can’t control, but the power you have as a student at Canterbury is the power to create a vibrant, dynamic, and kind learning environment. And, you have the power to influence others around you to do the same.
Here at Canterbury, you have faculty and staff members who deeply care about you. Who spend time away from their families to go on trips with you to give you the chance to shine in your academic competitions. Teachers who spend hours on induction ceremonies just like this to honor you, Teachers who spend time in the summer going to conferences to make their classes better for you. But, even more so, you have teachers who listen to and value what you say. For example, I always have someone in my class talking about their day, giving me recommendations on how to improve something, making up assignments, asking for college rec letters, or sometimes just venting about something that didn’t go their way. I am not unique in this. If you walk the halls, you will rarely find a teacher alone in his or her classroom. Your teachers listen to you and value you.
So, I want to ask that you consider what you give back to your school community. As I said, I truly believe that the students are the life force of the school. A strong school starts in every individual classroom, on the field in each individual practice, and in every interaction you have with your peers. I have seen this very clearly in my time teaching. The students make or break a class. Yes, you heard that right–the students make or break the class. The content does not “make or break” the class. Not even the teacher “makes or breaks” the class. The students in the room make the class. In the past 16 years of teaching, I can tell you that the content has not dramatically changed. The Spanish of 16 years ago is more or less the same Spanish we use today… even though the prevalence of Spanglish has grown, much to my dismay. And, while I have definitely improved my own teaching and tried new strategies and methods in the classroom, I am still essentially an improved version of the teacher who began teaching so many years ago. During that time, it has become abundantly clear to me that what “makes” an awesome class is the students in the seats.
You make the difference. Sure, the teacher, the strategies, and the circumstances all matter too, but the biggest determiners of your success and progress, are the community around you–the community that you create. When people find out I’m a teacher, they sometimes ask me if it’s boring to teach the same class every year, year after year, and I always respond that I have never taught the same class twice. Sure, I’ve taught AP Spanish for a very long time, but every year it’s different. Every classroom community that my students create has been different than the one before. Some classes I’ve taught have been known for their ability to have a good time in every class, or their effort to be kind and make lasting friendships, while others were very intellectually curious and took us down paths of learning that we never would have imagined on the first day of our time together. Others are funny groups that make the learning process more enjoyable for everyone, while other groups raise the bar academically by prioritizing hard work, grit, and determination. Through the years I’ve had too many classes to describe every one of them, but know that the students are what has made each class unique and that is a power that every one of you has right here, right now.
So, I always tell students that the teacher does not make the class great. You, the students, make the class great and make your time at Canterbury School great. It’s your choice every day to be someone who pushes others around to choose to do the right thing even though it’s hard, to prioritize your learning above all else, and to give back to the community that offers you so much at Canterbury.
So, then, my challenge to you all as the newest members of the National Honor Society is to see your classrooms, sports fields, lunch table, clubs, and even just your meet-ups with friends as chances to take ownership of your community and make it the community that lives up to the ideals of the National Honor Society; encouraging strong academic curiosity and eagerness to learn, grappling with ethical dilemmas and working to strengthen your moral compass, serving others around you all for the goal of making this community the best it can be every day. There is no more powerful group to do this than you in those seats. Make your Canterbury experience one to remember, make memories with your friends, make memories in your classes, and make our community the best one it can be!
Thank you.
