Oakwood Collegiate Institute - Oracle Yearbook (Toronto Ontario, Canada)

THE OAKWOOD ORACLE but their achievements out of the ordinary are their remembered points, and in this particular our year has been rather remarkably fortunate. In other words. what has happened during our term at collegiate '? Academically, our five years have produced no less than thirteen winners of scholarships, beginning in 1924 with Roger Monkman with his unequalled record of twenty-four first-class honours, and continuing without a break through these years. But our scholastic record did not outdistance the other activities. Both Senior and Junior Literary So- cieties have kept up tradition. The play "Twelfth Night," put on when we were lowly second formers, was perhaps the finest ever produced by a collegiate. Moreover, a student from Oakwood a year later represented all Canada in the great oratorical contest in Washington. The Oracle has produced its greatest numbers since its inception, notably those edited by Leonard Ryan in 1924, now editor of The Varsity, Florence Matthews in '27 and Isobel Jordan in '28. In my opinion those three would rank with any colleigate magazine in the Dominion, and a glance through them tells you that this school has been alive. More- over, the activities of the Girls' Club have flourished under such splendid leaders as Helen Millichamp. And now we come to the honours we hold highest. In the realm.of sport Oakwood stands supreme. In five years we have won four senioi' rugby championships, a record equalled only by Oakwood herself in pre- vious years. May I pause to recall to your minds names famous in the annals of collegiate rugby: Billings, Greig, the Abbey brothers. Gilmore. Lewis, Greig, to pick a pair from each year: and countless others whose names never appeared on the sporting page, but who made possible that co-ordination which wins games. We succumbed only to that leap-year hoodoo which has caught the school once more. And other sports as well. Soccer? Two Senior Championships, three times Junior runner- up. Hockey '? One Senior, two Junior Championships, once runner-up. Basketball? Twice Senior runner-up. Cadets? The Ellis cup has never left Oakwood since it was first thrown open to competition. Does that answer the question, "What of it?" You know they used to ask: "Where is our school spirit?" I re- member three years ago at Rosedale field, when Marbel "Buck" Billings, the finest Oakwood half-back playing rugby to-day, ran 30 yards into the midst of a Humberside scramble, to leap high in the air and snatch a short kick. His team-mates saw him carried off unconscious, and they swept down the field to a wonderful victory. I have seen many more sensational plays on Oakwood gridirons, but somehow that outburst of team and school enthusiasm lingers in my memory. They may still ask you: "Where is your school spirit?" I sat in Varsity Stadium and saw the greatest junior team Oakwood has ever produced fight through to a glorious victory. I should know where your school spirit is-it walked all over mel Now our days at Oakwood are finished, and it is our fond hope that while thus contributing we have added something of use. Our parents, by whose splendid efforts our years at Oakwood have been made possible, and to whom we are deeply grateful, expect this of us. For after all, the students themselves make or break an institution of this kind. The teachers mold it, learning molds it, but the students are the school. We, and you with us, have built ourselves into and have become the Spirit of Oakwood. So we commend to you our school-we hope you'll be good to it' Pllfll' Tll'I'll'l'