Last Saturday marked the end of an incredible journey and the transition to adulthood for Westlake Boys’ 2015 Leavers who attended the much anticipated “Westlakers Unite” Graduation Dinner, held in the school Auditorium.
Invited to return for the final time this year, no longer as students in uniform but as men in suits, over 180 “United Westlakers”, their families and Westlake staff enjoyed the ambiance that had been created to celebrate the closure of the years as students of Westlake Boys High School. On arrival “Jin and the Limbs” with Jin Lim, William Abraham and Corbin Cantell performed a variety of rock ballads and Westlaker photographer Ben Jung from Trimage Photography captured photos of groups of family and friends in the Westlake Timeline Photo Booth.
The brotherly connection was felt from the introduction of formal proceedings when MC’s Mrs Tracy Houzet and Luke Dewar were cheered on and it was clear that the evenings’ celebrations were going to accurately represent the five years spent at Westlake and the promise of the exhilarating futures ahead.
Headmaster David Ferguson launched the evening appropriately when he shared some important life lessons in a video entitled “How to Age Gracefully”. Subjects aged from toddlers to 97 year olds shared valuable advice to their younger selves. Mr Ferguson’s speech featured many entertaining insights interspersed with serious messages such as the importance of each student acknowledging their family’s support throughout their time at Westlake and beyond. He closed his address saying “you may have left Westlake, but Westlake will never leave you”. His message reiterated that the leavers may have graduated from Westlake but that they should not lose sight of the opportunities to “graduate” that will be presented in any moment during any given day. He suggested that life would continue to be a series of “moments of graduation”.
Guests had a moment to digest these words and their corresponding thoughts as they enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner along with a drink served from the bar by the men of the Westlakers Committee. Westlake’s popular House DJ, Deputy Headmaster Mr Arnold van den Heuvel provided an ambient mood playing his tunes throughout dinner while the leavers all enjoyed the chance to play “Spot my Friends” during the photo slideshow of their years at Westlake.
After dinner special guest Westlaker John Burland shared Steve Jobs’ advice to Stanford Graduates on connecting the dots, the meaningful moments in one’s life, by looking backwards and identifying the critical turning points … the dots. Mr Burland used his own story and the stories of others to illustrate and emphasise his valuable piece of advice.
Excitement stirred as the 180 plus members of the Class of 2015 present at “2015 Grad Dinner” cheered each other on as they crossed the stage for the official Graduation Ceremony. Each leaver was personally farewelled by Mr Ferguson before accepting their graduation certificate from Mr Coetzee and then a welcome handshake and Westlakers tie from Westlakers President Mr Richard Stevens. The tie features a distinctive design created by old boy Keith Matheson.
The Graduation Ceremony included moments of celebration, some laughter and a lot of curiosity as each the arrival of each student to the stage was marked on the large screen with an image featuring a line-up of all his ID photographs, most featuring all five photos from 3rd form through to 7th form.
To complete the official part of the Graduation Ceremony Mr Stevens proposed a toast to the 2015 leavers and their families inviting them to celebrate a memorable chapter in their lives as they join the thousands of students before them who have become Westlakers.
As Mr van den Heuvel’s tunes rung out throughout dessert the evening entered its final phase. Westlakers President Mr Stevens presented the 2015 Westlakers Red Blooded Award, for Westlake character and spirit, to well-deserving recipient James Parkes. Throughout his years at Westlake James showed exemplary passion and spirit for Westlake with his selfless contribution as a sportsman, buddy, coach and member of the Charity Council, which raised much-needed funds for North Shore Hospice.
This year’s Westlaker Lifetime Achievement Award was presented posthumously for the first time. The 2015 recipient was Mr Ian (“BIF”) Hall – a very popular Maths teacher throughout the 70’s and 80’s who passed away late last year. BIF loved all things Westlake and, throughout his retirement, continued to contribute hundreds of hours tracking down old boys and preparing a card file comprising a record for every student who passed through our school from 1962-2000. It was the precursor for the Westlaker profiles that are published in our annual yearbooks nowadays. BIF’s grandchildren Michael, Natalie and Victoria were present on the evening to accept the award on his behalf.
As th
e evening drew to a close, it was time for a Valedictory speech from 2015 Head Boy Andre Jackson. Andre started off joking that his voice wasn’t as developed and manly as MC Luke Dewar’s. Andre thanked the Westlake Boys’ High School staff and his school mates for five special years. His valedictory address closed with a stirring reminder to all leavers to keep the Westlake spirit and motto “Virtute Experiamur” close to their hearts.
The penultimate feature of the evening was a screening of the much-anticipated 2015 LEAVERS’ VIDEO, produced by Westlaker Joe Canham. Joe left Westlake at the end of 6th form in 2014 to pursue his dream of studying at the South Seas Film & TV School. His superbly produced video featured memories and messages from teachers and leavers alike.
The evening closed with a final and passionate rendition of the Westlake school song led by Arthur Close with Riley Cahill on piano. The graduates sang at the top of their voices – a fitting way to conclude their time at Westlake Boys High School.
The success of the Graduation Dinner was made possible only through the hard work of the 2015 Graduation Committee comprising of Ihtishaam Muhammed, Rengen Parlane and Kevin Chen, assisted by Mrs Christine O’Dowd and Mrs Tracy Houzet.
Below are the Photobooth images of the evening taken by Ben Jung from Trimage Photograpy. If you would like to receive a larger version of the images, please email Christine O’Dowd on codowd@westlake.school.nz with the image number.
