Neil O’Brien felicitates Governor MK Narayanan at Kala Mandir on Thursday. Picture by Anup Bhattacharya

The students cheered while their school officials, teachers and parents were lauded for being the pillars of the school.

“If you are wondering why all the people in the uniform have not been considered pillars of the school, you are not pillars of the school. You are the school,” said Barry O’Brien, board member of The Frank Anthony Public School, in his vote of thanks at a programme to mark the inauguration of the school’s golden jubilee celebrations on Thursday.

“Boys and girls, when Mr Frank Anthony began the school I am sure he was sure he was building it on a rock and that rock is you. Because you have worked hard over the years, because you are disciplined, because you are balanced, because you are respectful and continue to be so , you are the rock on which The Frank Anthony Public School is built,” O’Brien said. “Anything that is built on a rock, no storm, no tsunami, no wind can ever blow it away.”

The foundation stone of The Frank Anthony Public School was unveiled at 171 AJC Bose Road on January 27, 1965, with 100 students on roll and 17 members in the faculty.

The chief guest of the evening, Governor M.K. Narayanan, spoke of the school’s great tradition, while reminding the audience that a system of education is not to be measured solely by the numbers who pass out of an institution. The best education is one by which children become informed, respect humanism and are not constricted by narrow walls of hatred, regionalism and violence, he said.

“Your school boasts of a great tradition and has produced many outstanding individuals in different fields. It has given you opportunities to develop your talents, skills , attitudes and values, enabling you to exploit your individual potential to the maximum. You therefore carry a great weight on your shoulders and you must be true to this tradition,” the Governor added.

Principal I.T. Myers agreed the school had indeed come a long way. “Much has changed, new buildings have replaced old ones, more facilities have been added, a lot of activities have been included in the curriculum….. The journey has been a very fruitful one and today we remember in a special way all those who worked tirelessly in those days when our foundation needed to be laid.”

The school felicitated some former teachers and members of the non-teaching staff who served for 25 years or longer.

In his address to the students, chairman Neil O’Brien said: “We try to build up an edifice not on bricks and stones but on people and the values they imbibe in our schools.... Values should never be sacrificed totally for technology.”