What Wilberforce Means to Me

[Students from Class Eight were invited to deliver speeches during morning chapel to the Lower School. This speech was written and delivered last spring.]

I joined The Wilberforce School when I was five. When I first arrived at the River Road building I was scared, and did not know what to expect. Fortunately, I had my brothers, Richard and Jack, who were with me at school. Their presence helped a lot.

Also, I was welcomed by everyone with warm faces. I have so many memories of those early days at Wilberforce, but I am only going to share a couple.

Whether taking nature walks by the Millstone River with my class or learning phonograms with Miss Barrett, in those early years I always sensed the grace shown through those who taught and encouraged me. Another memory was when my family and I spread new woodchips on the Wilberforce playground. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon in the spring. We covered the whole playground, and we were very proud of our work. The next day, Sunday, brought a huge rainstorm that flooded the entire school grounds. The good news is we got off school on Monday. The bad news was it wiped away all our wood chips. No one ever saw our good deed...oh well.

Throughout my years at Wilberforce I came to enjoy classes I didn't expect to. These included History and Music. Wilberforce has taught me to never give up when I'm struggling in a subject. Last year I was having a tough time in Latin. Mr. Schellack helped me create a game plan to do better. I followed it, and ended up with a good grade. In History, I never thought reading about things from long ago could ever be very interesting. Mr. Young taught me how the things from the past give us lessons we can use today. He always grasps my attention in class and to this day, he still makes everything very interesting.

I can't wait to share with the rest of the world what Wilberforce has taught me about being a leader among my peers and always striving to be a good person and that learning can be fun.

Tade Farrell is the fifth member of his family to compose a Chapel Speech. It is a gift to hear from the Farrell family and continue the legacy at Wilberforce.