Ellen Johnson's Valedictorian Speech

THE FOUNDATION IS LAID, NOW WE BUILD Guest, members of the faculty, fellow students, and friends, it is indeed a great honor to be chosen the member of the class of '47 to give the Validictorial (sic) address. We have chosen for our class motto "The Foundation is Laid, Now We Build" because we considered it so appropiate (sic) for us. One's education is undoubtedly the foundation of his life, and each of us in this graduating class of '47 has at last reached a very important mile-stone along his educational road, for I don't think any of you will deny that graduating from high school is an important mile-stone. We feel that our foundation is secure and for this security we are indeed grateful to the faculty of Boulder Creek Union High School. Of course, we did the actual work, but without our teachers' guidance we would have stumbled. We feel that the word: "built" is especially appropiate (sic) because in the years following each war "build" is a keyword. There is much building and rebuilding to be done in this world today, and our generation will have its share. Also there are the usual improvements which each generation is expected to make in our country whether it is in government, the arts, social welfare, the sciences or in any of the many other fields. We feel confident that we will do our share; and, as it is the hope of each generation to outshine the former, so it is ours. We look forward to the future with pride because we know it is ours, yet with apprehension because we know it will be what we make of it. With this in mind, we close forever our high school days and prepare to build.