Dedication of new Memorial HS

February 5, 2009 Star-Courier News Index - Front Page 0

Goose Creek Memorial Principal Al Richard with Class President and Miss Highlands Megan Adams pose with the school’s cornerstone.

EAST HARRIS COUNTY — Drawing on a theme of unity, the staff and students of Goose Creek Memorial High School opened their doors to the community this week for a dedication ceremony.

The third high school in the Goose Creek CISD, Memorial is the first high school to open in 40 years. The ceremony opened with School Board President Carl Burg welcoming guests and elected officials.

Steven Coffey, representing Congressman Gene Green’s office, presented a flag to the school which had flown over the U.S. Capitol in honor of the occasion. At the start of the school year last August, Congressman Ted Poe had sent a flag that he had flown over the Capitol for Memorial.

Dr. Toby York, interim superintendent, read a proclamation signed by Gov. Rick Perry honoring the school’s opening.

Al Richard, Memorial’s principal, said that this occasion marked the pinnacle of his 25 years of service to the school district. Richard spoke about the crash course in construction that he had to take, while learning a most important lesson, “Our greatest asset is our students.”

Megan Adams, class president and the reigning Miss Highlands, spoke of the history-making first year of the school and the many “first accomplishments” the students have achieved. A two-high school district for so many years, Adams said that while the students who attend Memorial will not forget where they came from they will look to the future and unity. “We are young,” she said, “but united together. We are the school that doesn’t give anything less than the best.”

The ceremony closed with the time-honored tradition of Masons laying the cornerstone. A tradition that dates back over 300 years to Scotland, this week Masons conducted the same ceremony that Grand Master Ben Franklin used on the cornerstone at Independence Hall and that Grand Master George Washington used in leveling the cornerstone at the U.S. Capitol.

Using the traditional tools of masonry: the level, the square, the plumb and the trowel, Masons from the Sampson Lodge #231 in Highlands called on the blessings of the “Supreme Architect of the Universe” to keep and protect the building and its inhabitants.