• “the team was bursting with pride after recording a sensational victory”
  • synonyms: pleasure, joy, delight, gratification, fulfillment, satisfaction, a sense of achievement; “take pride in a good job well done”

 How is Handley Different?  by Dr. V. Doug Joyner

From letter jackets to lunch lines, Handley isn’t outwardly intriguing, nothing differentiates us from any other high school across the nation-but step inside the checkered hallway; have a seat in the auditorium; cheer for the football players at a game and you will find there’s something else that lingers in the hallways.  It’s an unfettered force that the community refers to as “Handley Pride”.  It’s the one thing that sets us apart from the rest.
It’s embedded into the glistening marble hall, woven into the upholstery of the auditorium, and saturates the Handley Bowl on a sparkling autumn afternoon.  The fundamentals associate us with every other school, but pride fractures the concord, and keeps the student reputation from being slandered into uniformity.
As a profile is examined and its features begin to tell a story, the inner thoughts come to the surface.  Even though the picture hasn’t told its story with words the wrinkle of a brow and a shy smile tell more eloquently than words the sorrows of the character.
Most important to the piecing together of a person are the eyes.  Are they quick and alert?  Do they search for something beyond the four walls of the picture?
When a teacher watches many profiles agonize over a test or listens to one lone profile struggling over an oral presentation, they see focus in their student’s eyes.  Focus and motive to achieve, to be known, to excel outside of the four walls of a classroom.
As we live our daily lives, our personalities become exposed, and we expose those of others.  Each situation, whether within the walls of Handley high or experienced elsewhere, defines us. Our surroundings mold us emotionally- no two of us are the same.  We are who we are; our appearance is unique, our mindsets are one of a kind, our experiences differ.
Through our activities, we have revealed ourselves to the school.  As the school year has progressed, the definition of our individual profiles has become sharp, and we have placed our profiles along the halls among all other Handley attendees-past, present, and future.  Our profiles, representing our lives – stay – waiting to expose our experiences for those who follow.

I disagree on that part about Handley not being outwardly intriguing.