Appleby College - Argus Yearbook (Oakville, Ontario Canada)

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One of rhe most important events in the history of the School was the building of the three new laboratories. From the standpoint of the teaching of Chemistry, the new facilities pro- vide the answer to several long- standing problems. The sheer inadequacy of floor space in the old classroom has given way to a roomy, well-laid out laboratory type working space which virtually eliminates the possibility of one student ' s using anothers earhole as a sink. The School decided on a peripheral bench arrangement because it provides minimum inter-student interference, while making possible ma.ximum supervision. The fact that the teacher can see the whole class, on an eye-to-eye basis, is a powerful deterrent to illegitimate student ac- tivities. It will now be possible for the inter- ested student to spend some of his spare time (which he has in generous amounts) in the completion of experi- mental work that he might have been unable to finish during his regular classes. He might also decide to pursue an investigation beyond the scope prescribed by his te.xt, or, in- deed, to embark upon a course in which he has a self-generated inter- est. The new laboratory is equipped to show educational movies and some modern semi-programmed study units to assist students in areas where they encounter problems have also been added. Last, but not least, the provision of a senior lab gives senior students the opportunity to work independently on any topic related to one of the three disciplines in the hope that Appleby can develop students who are self- motivated, technically skilled, self- disciplined and mature. Unlike many high school laboratories, the new Appleby physics laboratory was designed to meet the unique needs of this branch of s cience alone. You will find in our lab no teacher ' s bench nor neat rows of fixed student benches; instead, good quality tables and lots of elbow room provide the flexibility required by the variety of experiments carried out during the year. An electrical strip running along each wall provides easy access to electrical outlets, while storage cupboards along the sides of the main laboratory allow students immediate access to equipment as it is needed. Both features will become increasingly important as we move towards indi- vidualized study programmes. In addition to the main laboratory there is a smaller adjoining laboratory and preparation room. The small laboratory is available for individual project work outside school hours, for use by senior students during their scheduled study periods, for small group instruction, and for use during regular class periods to provide a dark area for activities such as optics, stroboscopic photography and film viewing. The preparation room pro- vides storage for expensive demonstra- tion equipment and office space where students can receive individual attention without disturbing the rest of a class. With the opening of the new Biology Labs comes a wealth of e.xciting op- portunities for the boys. Within the Main Lab, each boy will be supplied with sufficient equipment and ser- vices so as to enable him to carry on the required laboratory exercises at his own rate. By the acquisition of specific models and specific sets of equipment, he can now probe into anatomy, behaviour, development, ecology, genetics, physiology, and many other areas of biology. His un- derstanding of the uniqueness and complexity of life will be aided by working with and maintaining living populations in the Vivarium - a small room with controlled-environment cabinets. In all, the boys will be exposed to more facets of biology than were previously possible in the facilities we had and, thereby, should develop a fuller understanding of the nature of life.

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The Resource And Science Centre The Resource and Science Centre, which was finally completed in late October, provides Appleby students with academic opportunities second to none in this Country at the Secondary School level. The facili- ties and opportunities which are pro- vided may be considered in two parts: the Resource Centre and the Science Centre, consisting of three spacious labs. In the Resource Centre itself students are able to find material for projects from a collection that includes an initial book stock of about 7000 volumes (one-half of capacity), films, fUmstrips, slides, microfilm, journals, flat pictures, prints, government documents, audio tapes, visual tapes, sheet maps, atlases, etc. There are about forty individual carrels which can be used for study in relative quiet and isolation. A self-contained pro- jection room and other smaller semi- nar rooms facilitate the use of equip- ment and material within the Library and permit small groups to meet and converse without distrubing others. An Instructional Materials Centre at the rear of the Library houses a variety of materials and equipment which permits students and Staff to be pro- ducers of media. Since Appleby is a Residential School, the Library pro- vides such items as games, records, tapes and popular magazines and paperbacks for the recreational needs of the students. Finally a full time professional library staff makes certain that effective and efficient use of the new facilities is achieved. iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii ' iruiiiiir

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Public Speaking Contest The Edin Heward Memorial Public Speaking Contest never differs from year to year in several respects. The evening begins when the contestants file on stage and sit nervously in their appointed chairs, some displaying a thin veneer of calm, others of sweat. Their eyes wander around the gym- nasium in search of something, any- thing to avoid the 1000 other eyes peering at them. They watch in dreadful anticipation as the Head- master strides to the podium to make his introductory remarks and welcome the judges. This year the judges were Mr. R.J. Smye, an Appleby Old Boy and former winner of the Public Speaking Contest, Mr. J. R. Guest, grandson of the founder of the school, and Mr. P.M. Little, son of the Vice- Chairman of the Board of Governors. All too soon he concludes his remarks and the first quivering speaker is brought before the assembly. It is here that the similarity ends. The ensuing few minutes determine the success or failure of the speaker. All of the speeches of the 1973 Contest were undeniably successes. Some were more successful than others but none were failures. No doubt it was with apprehension that his fellow contestants listened to Tim Menzies charm, coddle and humour his audience. His topic, The Art of Public Speaking was un- expectedly interesting. He illustrated every characteristic of the poor speaker and most especially Tim amused the guests with clever mimi- cry of a speaker ' s gesticulations. What might have been a rather dry speech was transformed by his tren- chant wit into a refreshingly appeal - Baseball in Toronto? This was the question posed by Charles Havill to the audience, and by the end of his remarks they would probably agree that Toronto could and should have its own professional baseball team. Indeed, for the sports fans present, so well did he get his point across that they may well have included a $20 million stadium in their concensus. Shockingly chauvinistic was one opinion of Rob Macfarlane ' s address which queried the ' benefits ' of Coeducation at Appleby . What Rob lacked in reliable evidence he made up for with humour, particu- larly appealing to the students. The Beaver People a speech in- spired by a unique personal encounter with a family of beavers was pre- sented by Daniel Peat. It was much like a fresh breath of air, from the North. Dan told some little known facts about this Canadian creature and included several humourous anecdotes. In contrast to the narrative format of The Beaver People , Dave Cannon, the fifth speaker for the evening, chose the topic of Communicating which forced one ' s mental machinery to work- He demonstrated the need for more effective person-to-person communication, not through the median of technological wonders but through the use of Man ' s God-given talents. Elgin McMurchy spoke on a subject of which we are all familiar, Nostalgia . . . . His introduction was very un unique as he related some of his boy- hood experiences yet in such a way that each thought it was his own past that Elgin was recounting. He managed to maintain this contact with the audience and therefore cap- ture their interest. The final speaker. Bill Dietrich, won the Public Speaking Contest. Bill talked about Convention and the Non -Conformist in an informal, fluent and engaging manner. (The adjectives which could be employed here are numerous and all in the Superlative). The content of his speech was as well -prepared and original as his execution of it. Amus- ing, but convincingly real, spoofs on the impulsive ' non-conformist ' added humour. So, too, did his clever physical illustrations and movements (In the course of his address he loosened his tie, took off his jacket, and adopted several ' non-conformist ' postures with the aid of a chair he carried on to the stage). All the speeches were deserving of praise and Bill ' s unanimously, of the prize.