The Georgia Speaker of the House, David Ralston, took time Wednesday, November 30, to stop by Clear Creek Middle School to deliver a very important message to the students there.

Ralston began his address telling the students, “Coming from this community, coming from these mountains, is something that will live with you for all of your life… But for all the natural beauty and peace that we enjoy here, there is a far more valuable resource. And that is our people.”

He spoke about our community and his part in it, being in a rural area “where everyone knows everybody else.” Recalling his own childhood, Ralston told the kids its the kind of community that when he did something wrong, his father knew about it before he even got home.

Yet, Ralston smiled with this story, telling our students it is the people of the community, people that care enough to tell on you, to take care of you, to instill values that serve you that make the community we are a part of.

Pausing a moment, Ralston offered Clear Creek students a piece of advice, “Take your education seriously… Take every opportunity to better yourself. If you take the more challenging courses, try out for the team, or raise your hand in class, you won’t succeed every time. You’ll make mistakes or you won’t get an answer right… Always learn something from those experiences.”

Ralston told our kids to learn, work harder next time, take advantage of all you can. Take part time jobs, take internships, grow yourself.

But why is this so important?

In the final parts of his speech, Ralston told the kids our community needs them. We’ll need teachers, doctors, small business owners. We’ll need people prepared to handle tomorrow’s jobs and tomorrow’s opportunities. He spoke about the needs of Gilmer to have a future. “As you get older you will come to discover, as I have,” Ralston said, “that what matters isn’t whether you succeed or what you do, but to help others succeed.”

One last thing Ralston told the kids, was to tell people thank you. Thank your teachers, school bus drivers, administrators, coaches, and everyone. Ralston shared that there was many people from his life he still wants to thank, but can’t anymore. He had lost that opportunity.

Check out more by listening to Ralston’s speech below: