Hello Tiger Nation,
My name is Dave Johnson and I am speaking to you from room 260 at Hastings High School. I have been informed that I have been selected to
receive the Mr. Ho-Ho Award from the Tiger-Cub newspaper staff for the 2012 holiday season. I am humbled by this great honor. I know that the selection process is a long and arduous process and that there are many worthy candidates whose qualifications merit this award. After careful thought and consideration I accept this award but I do not take the acceptance of this award lightly. Not unlike General of the Army Robert E. Lee, who at the beginning of the Civil War paced the floors of this home in trying to decide whether to stay with the U.S. Army or join his beloved home state of Virginia in fighting for the Confederate States of America, I spent many hours pacing the floor in this very room trying to decide on whether to accept this title. I was inspired by the stirring words from the great Teddy Roosevelt:
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
In being given this award in the past I know the awesome responsibility and the terrible burden that this title can bring to the person who wears the crown. I also know that this selection is not without controversy. Some of my fellow faculty members will be horrified when learning that I have been given the Mr. Ho-Ho prize. One in particular, a Mr. Roger Sunderman, will not be happy with this news. Many years ago when I won this award he embarked on a bitter smear campaign that tried to convince the people that I did not deserve this. That me and the Mr. Ho-
Ho award is a terrible contradiction. Because of this traumatic experience I was not sure I could do this again. But the words that President John F. Kennedy spoke at his presidential inauguration came to mind, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” So with that in mind I have decided to ignore the Mr. Sundermans of the world and carry on the traditions that have been established by prior Mr. Ho-Hos of Hastings High. Now that I have decided to take on this position I must also reflect on the toll that is taken on the recipient every time that they take on this title. The tremendous pressure that goes along with being Mr. Ho-Ho is incomprehensible. Because of this pressure I will paraphrase President Lyndon B. Johnson as he announced that he would not run for a third term as President: Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept any future Mr. Ho-Ho titles. In closing I wish everyone a happy holiday season. Go Tigers!
