School trustee Tom Bundros shares his speech from the El Portal
School building dedication ceremony
A speech given on the occasion of the MACSA-GUSD Cesar E. Chavez Multipurpose Center Groundbreaking Ceremony on Friday, May 4, 2007.
Greetings! My name is Tom Bundros, and I am the President of the Gilroy Board of Education. I bring to you the joy and best wishes of the entire Board in the ground-breaking of the new El Portal classroom complex and the Cesar E. Chavez multipurpose facility.
I loved the quotation by Mr. Campos in this morning’s paper. He said: “There’s a lot to be said about bricks and mortar. You’re really making a statement that we’re here to stay.” Yes, indeed!
On the subject of staying – I would like to share with you that my family were immigrants to this country. My grandfather couldn’t support his family on a small and unproductive piece of land in rural Greece. He eventually came to this country – shining shoes and cleaning hats – and sent his earnings back to Greece to support his family. Although his earnings were very meager – it was a lot of money by Greek standards of the time, he was able save enough to eventually bring his wife and two youngest children to America (by now the three oldest were grown and on their own). My father was one of those two, and it wasn’t until he was 17 that he had the opportunity to live and get to know his own father.
This story is not unique; it is reflected in the family histories of millions and millions of families who came from poverty stricken and war torn areas from all over the world. They came, they worked hard, and through blood, sweat, tears, bricks, and mortar – they stayed – to build and enrich this nation.
There are many quotations by Mr. Chavez that find strong resonance with me. He said: “It is possible to become discouraged about the injustice we see everywhere. But God did not promise us that the world would be humane and just. He gives us the gift of life and allows us to choose the way we will use our limited time on earth. It is an awesome opportunity.”
I ask – an opportunity for what?
Chavez answers with: “When we are really honest with ourselves we must admit that our lives are all that really belong to us. So, it’s how we use our lives that determines what kind of men we are.” Mr. Chavez goes on to say: “It is my deepest belief that only by giving our lives do we find life.”
This sentiment, this belief, this wisdom, has been expressed and shared by the notable religious and secular leaders throughout history. I’ve also heard it expressed by many people of humble origins who struggled and were willing to give their lives to serve their families and other people. I wonder sometimes whether it is possible to develop wisdom without the struggle without the sacrifice – I think (unfortunately) not. Wisdom is forged and nourished through struggle and sacrifice. If we are to attain wisdom, we must embrace these. I believe that is how Mr. Chavez approached struggle and sacrifice – and lived his life.
We are here today to celebrate the groundbreaking of a facility dedicated to education, and the Board of Education couldn’t be more elated. We anticipate that this institution will be successful in imparting the knowledge and skills to enrich the lives of our young men and women – to enable them to add their bricks and mortar to continue to build and enrich this community and our country.
Education is critically important – but by itself does not guarantee the quality of life I think that most of us want for our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It has been noted that the people who designed and operated the concentration camps in Eastern Europe, Russia, Asia-Pacific (to just name a few) were educated people – engineers, doctors, lawyers, skilled people and the like. We need to consider what we are educating for – and I find an answer with Mr. Chavez who said: “The end of all education should surely be service to others. The end of all knowledge should surely be service to others.”
The Board of Education
congratulates you on this very important milestone and we look forward to working
with you through the “awesome opportunity” to educate and nurture our youth and community.
Thank you.
Tom Bundros is an elected trustee on the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Education. Anyone wishing to submit a guest
column may contact Editor Mark Derry at 842-6400.
