David Allen
Active member
My son Philip has been selected to present the promotion-graduation speech for his
eighth grade promotion. In our town our kids go to Vassalboro Community School
from kindergarten through eighth grade. Class sizes are a relatively small 50
to 60 students. There is no high school in our town so after eighth grade our
kids have to choose a high school a high school in one of three neighboring
towns. So eighth grade promotion is a big deal in town.
As you can probably tell I am very proud of Phil. Phil, is 14 years old and has
a twin sister who is equally accomplished in her own way. I credit two key
things in Phil's academic success. One is the Gifted and Talented Program at
school. The other is joining the Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Club at school.
They each provided challenges that kept him interested. In the Fly Tying and Fly
Fishing Club Phil began tying flies and at his urging Phil and I attended
our first TU Chapter meeting. Phil has since gone on to both teach others and
lead the Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Club. He has also become an active member of
the Kennebec Valley Trout Unlimited Chapter and was recently elected to the TU
State Council Board of Directors. Phil is also the proprietor of Phil's Fishing
Flies, sell his work in a couple of fly shops and a local craft store.
Last year Phil attended Maine Trout Camp (paid for by himself), and this year he has been accepted
into and will be attending both the Pennsylvania - Rivers Conservation Camp and
the Trout Unlimited Tri-State Conservation & Fishing Camp (paid for by himself and sponsorship)
By the time Phil presents his speech he will have achieved the Boy Scout rank of Life
Scout and be working toward Eagle Scout, with the intention of undertaking a
stream restoration as his eagle project.
As I have shared before Phil is also a duck hunter and tries to be a goose hunter. He has also been the youth skeet champion at our gun club for the last 3 years.
Below is a copy of Phil's speech.
Grad Speech By: Philip Allen
There's a couple of things I like to pretend I'm good at. School and fishing. To
bad there's only one I can get away playing hookie. Now before they kick me off
the stage I'll get to the speech. Steve Wright once said,
“There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an
idiot”
I think this quote applies to school, you can put the hours in and graduate or
you can sit in the principal's office the whole time. Either way you're still at
school. And in my opinion it's like fishing. Imagine k-8 is a small trout
stream, k-2 we use worms to catch small fish, 3-5 we use artificial lures for
the first time, and a greater challenge comes with greater fish. Then we are
given fly rods and fishing flies in faster water and for larger trout. We put in
the hours practicing knots and our roll cast. We put the right flies in the
right seam at the right time and reeled in 8th grade promotion. Now we see that
the stream is widening into a river with many streams pouring in as well as the
fishermen and fisherwomen joining the river for the first time. This is High
school. Way on the horizon you can see the big bay of college and beyond that
the vast ocean of life. As we move on and get more steady on our feet we walk
further and further into the rushing water. With this new stage we pick up a new
rod and try catching the smarter stronger fish lurking in the depths. Soon we’ll
be in high school, we’ll get our first boat and be able to be more independent
and get farther and farther from the safe haven of the shore. The shore has
shaped the path for us and as we get further downstream we become more
independent and more ready.
The shore is our parents, teachers, and the people who showed us the right way
to go and kept us on the right path on our journey to the ocean where we’ll
eventually sail on our own. But right know this is our first big step. It comes
with more independence greater responsibilities, and many new doors open to us.
Now we get to make a choice, we can continue fishing or as Steve Wright would
say we can just stand on the shore like an idiot.
eighth grade promotion. In our town our kids go to Vassalboro Community School
from kindergarten through eighth grade. Class sizes are a relatively small 50
to 60 students. There is no high school in our town so after eighth grade our
kids have to choose a high school a high school in one of three neighboring
towns. So eighth grade promotion is a big deal in town.
As you can probably tell I am very proud of Phil. Phil, is 14 years old and has
a twin sister who is equally accomplished in her own way. I credit two key
things in Phil's academic success. One is the Gifted and Talented Program at
school. The other is joining the Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Club at school.
They each provided challenges that kept him interested. In the Fly Tying and Fly
Fishing Club Phil began tying flies and at his urging Phil and I attended
our first TU Chapter meeting. Phil has since gone on to both teach others and
lead the Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Club. He has also become an active member of
the Kennebec Valley Trout Unlimited Chapter and was recently elected to the TU
State Council Board of Directors. Phil is also the proprietor of Phil's Fishing
Flies, sell his work in a couple of fly shops and a local craft store.
Last year Phil attended Maine Trout Camp (paid for by himself), and this year he has been accepted
into and will be attending both the Pennsylvania - Rivers Conservation Camp and
the Trout Unlimited Tri-State Conservation & Fishing Camp (paid for by himself and sponsorship)
By the time Phil presents his speech he will have achieved the Boy Scout rank of Life
Scout and be working toward Eagle Scout, with the intention of undertaking a
stream restoration as his eagle project.
As I have shared before Phil is also a duck hunter and tries to be a goose hunter. He has also been the youth skeet champion at our gun club for the last 3 years.
Below is a copy of Phil's speech.
Grad Speech By: Philip Allen
There's a couple of things I like to pretend I'm good at. School and fishing. To
bad there's only one I can get away playing hookie. Now before they kick me off
the stage I'll get to the speech. Steve Wright once said,
“There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an
idiot”
I think this quote applies to school, you can put the hours in and graduate or
you can sit in the principal's office the whole time. Either way you're still at
school. And in my opinion it's like fishing. Imagine k-8 is a small trout
stream, k-2 we use worms to catch small fish, 3-5 we use artificial lures for
the first time, and a greater challenge comes with greater fish. Then we are
given fly rods and fishing flies in faster water and for larger trout. We put in
the hours practicing knots and our roll cast. We put the right flies in the
right seam at the right time and reeled in 8th grade promotion. Now we see that
the stream is widening into a river with many streams pouring in as well as the
fishermen and fisherwomen joining the river for the first time. This is High
school. Way on the horizon you can see the big bay of college and beyond that
the vast ocean of life. As we move on and get more steady on our feet we walk
further and further into the rushing water. With this new stage we pick up a new
rod and try catching the smarter stronger fish lurking in the depths. Soon we’ll
be in high school, we’ll get our first boat and be able to be more independent
and get farther and farther from the safe haven of the shore. The shore has
shaped the path for us and as we get further downstream we become more
independent and more ready.
The shore is our parents, teachers, and the people who showed us the right way
to go and kept us on the right path on our journey to the ocean where we’ll
eventually sail on our own. But right know this is our first big step. It comes
with more independence greater responsibilities, and many new doors open to us.
Now we get to make a choice, we can continue fishing or as Steve Wright would
say we can just stand on the shore like an idiot.
