Welcome
to you all. I’m so proud to be here, with each of you, as we pause and
celebrate the enduring influence our School has had on our lives.
In
mid-February of 1947 (65 years ago yesterday), a group of laypersons and
members of the Diocese of the Episcopal Church of Oklahoma established a school
and cast a vision for a Diocesan Center that would occupy a section of land on
the corner of Penn and Britton. Those people set in motion a collective effort
to bring the finest schooling experience possible to a rapidly growing and
vibrant community in the middle of the United States – a set of decisions that
has had a lasting impact and an undeniable role in the formation of our city
today and in communities far beyond Oklahoma City.
There
are people in this room who first stepped foot on our campus 65 years ago as
students, some as parents, and some whose children have just begun their
journey around the lake. We, current and former trustees, current and former faculty
and staff members, alumni, parents, grandparents and perhaps a
great-grandparent or two, have gathered tonight to celebrate how Casady has shaped
our lives individually and collectively, both here in Oklahoma City and far
beyond.
Our
facilities have changed and improved over time, but echoes of those individuals
who filled the classrooms, dining halls, stages, and athletic fields resonate
in the very fabric of Casady School today. Their voices and ours join together
to continue building the vision that began the School and that has shaped the
lives of so many since its inception.
While
each of our lives is uniquely our own with our own very particular trajectory,
there are points in time and in space where our life paths cross and we take
the opportunity to pause and reflect with one another out of respect for a
common, yet extraordinary, bond.
Tonight
is one of those occasions.
During
the past year, we have had many opportunities to reflect and remember what has
made our school what it has become. We’ve welcomed new members to the Casady
family and we’ve memorialized those who have passed on, ensuring that their
legacy, large or small, is a valued part of who we are and of our spirit.
Of
course, there is a select group of individuals who have chosen to devote their
lives with a calling to ensure each of our students has an unparalleled
education and, in turn, makes our world better every single day: our faculty
and staff.
For
the past 65 years, it has been those rare individuals who have been the heart
and soul of our School. Many former teachers have departed, of course, but
here tonight, their collective voices live on and are amplified by those today who,
day in and day out, work with each of our students to prepare them, with faith
and with courage to live lives of substance and meaning.
Words
cannot express the gratitude generations of families have had for the thousands
of hours of preparation, instruction and care you all have provided for each
of our students.
Would
the faculty and staff please stand and be recognized.
As
the chapel bells ring out the "Casady Hymn" each morning, we are connected to one
another through song and reminded:
Give
us grace that we may find, in each heart and mind,
Patience, truth and honor
forever more.
