I want to offer my congratulations to all the students here tonight for being named to the Pleasantville National Honor Society. This is quite an accomplishment and something both you and your family should be very proud of.
When Josh Day asked me to address this crowd tonight, he told me that most people talk about character. Let me tell you why I'm speaking tonight and not Coach Koerselman, some flimsy excuse of his son moving to Kansas City and he and his wife needing to go and help him find an apartment. Boy, some guys will do anything to get out of a speaking gig. Actually, though, I am honored to be here tonight, to speak, even if ever so briefly, to such a wonderful group of kids. Please don’t feel embarrassed about being called a kid, I call everyone a kid, since I'm so much older than everyone.
All of you have proven successful as test takers, to be able to meet the standard of the National Honor Society's Scholarship requirement. You've all done marvelous work on your classroom test taking abilities. There are, however, some tests that you haven't taken yet, or at least some of you haven't. That is the test of character. You will be tested on your character and it's not a paper and pencil test. It is a hands-on, real life test that you might not even know you're taking until it's done. Many of you will pass with flying colors. Others might struggle. The key is having the ability to figure out that you are taking the test when it happens. When you're asked to do something that you know you shouldn't do, be somewhere you know you shouldn't be or be involved with something you know is wrong, will you have the character to make the right decision? Some will while others won't. Experience is a great teacher. You'll look back at your decisions and ask yourself, why did I do that? I know I still do today because I've certainly made my share of mistakes. We are all challenged and we will all continue to be challenged. Age has no restrictions on character. It is easier to start strong and stay that way versus starting weakly and trying to bring yourself back up to the high standard that we all expect to have. Your character will be instrumental in determining your next criteria of the NHS, leadership. My kids still make fun of me today, at home, privately, about reading leadership books. As a matter of fact, I'm expecting a new book called "Hacking Leadership" to arrive any day now. When I was the principal at Forest City High School, I taught a class on leadership, working on such things as building consensus, learning to be understanding, having the ability to listen to others and putting that ability into action. I want to highlight two books that I would recommend to you to read, whether you are planning on going to college of some sort, the military or going right into the work force. You see, I don't believe in graduation, particularly from high school. I believe in preparation. High School should be preparing you for your next chapter in life - be that college, military or the work force. Anyway, I digress. The two books I think everyone here should read are "Good to Great" by Jim Collins and "The Servant" by James Hunter. These books will give you a firm grasp on what leadership is truly about with concrete examples of how to put them into place.
The four components of the National Honor Society, Scholarship, Character, Leadership and Service will always be a factor in your lives. You will find that these four components basically will run your life. They will act like a giant flywheel in your life. Since you all are in the National Honor Society, I'm sure you know what a flywheel is, but for those of your little brothers or sisters here tonight who might not know, I'll explain it to them. A flywheel is like a large wheel that goes around and around, making other wheels go around as well. It is very hard to get started, in fact, it takes a great amount of effort to get the flywheel started but with each rotation of the wheel, it gets a little easier and easier, until there's not much effort at all to maintain its momentum. To move this flywheel, it takes a tremendous amount of discipline. Not the type of discipline where you get in trouble for not taking the garbage out or missing an assignment, the other type of discipline. Doing the right thing all the time. That type of discipline. You see, to be successful in this life, it takes disciplined people with disciplined thought doing disciplined action. There are no shortcuts to success. For some of you, academic success has come very easily while for others, it took many long and hard hours of work - you know - being disciplined.
The last thing I want to visit with you about tonight is the idea of being a servant leader. There is no greater calling than to serve others, whether it is through your career path, your church, your family or just you individually. I have asked every teacher I've ever supervised, either as a principal or a superintendent, to be servant leaders to the kids in their classrooms. Putting others in front of yourself is a way to prove to others that you have the character you do. You will find in this life that there are many ego-centric people in this world but the ones who are the happiest, most well-adjusted are those who serve others. Many high schools and colleges are providing their students with the opportunity to serve others through some sort of class or program. This past fall, I went on such a trip to the Navajo Indian Reservation in Gallup, New Mexico. It showed me that even the smallest act of kindness and compassion, when done in serving others is as rewarding as anything you'll ever find. The Navajo people have their own way to determine success. They say that success is not determined by how much you have but by how much you give away. Please, at some time in your life, go on a service trip. You will be richly blessed for doing so. Again, congratulations to you for this fantastic accomplishment of being added to the rolls of the Pleasantville National Honor Society. Thank you for allowing me to go on and on tonight. May God Bless you in your life and lead you to great successes. Thank you.
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