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

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Pal dtctarg To question all things; — never to turn away from any difficulty; to accept no doctrine either from ourselves or from other people without a rigid scrutiny by negative criticism; letting no fal- lacy, or incoherence or confusion of thought step by unperceived; above all insist upon having the meaning of a word clearly understood before assenting to it; these are the lessons we learn from ancient dialecticians. John Stuart Mill. No, it is not true that those able men and women who taught us during our embryonic years at Oakwood were quite that ancient, nor do I recall, were they ever referred to as dialecticians by their colleagues or by ourselves. Nevertheless, the lessons which they unfolded were as meaning- ful and implicit as those lessons cited by John Stuart Mill. Before I proceed, however, I must follow my own advice, which is a rather bitter pill to swallow. I will insist upon having the meaning of a word clearly understood before using it. Dialectics, therefore, is the art of practice of exam- ining statements logically, as by question and an- swer to establish validity. Question has been important both in word and in deed at Oakwood. Never have our ques- tions been laughed at or avoided by those who taught us. As we look back, perhaps our first in- tellectual question occurred when we were in Grade IX, in mathematics class, as we couldn ' t quite reason why x times y was either xy or yx. We passed through Grade X to Grade XI, where the puzzling worlds of Physics and Geometry were opened to us. In Grade XII, we were introduced to the fascination of Chemistry. Who can forget the immortal question: What weight of potassium hydroxide must be neutralized to form 50.5 grams of potassium nitrate? As we grew older, our questions grew in stature with our years. They became questions of opinion rather than questions of fact, and required solid intellectual answers before we were satisfied. At present, many of us are students in a com- munity where questioning comprises the focal point of our studies. This community, founded on question, is the university. Not all of us attend a university, but we are all able to exercise our right to question which we learned so well in the class- rooms of this building. Society itself, the complex- ity of our modern world, presents questions to us that must be resolved. In asking and answering questions that pertain to our society, we create for .ourselves a philosophy of life, a set of principles and ideals that will guide us through the mazes that will be encountered in our lifetime. Oakwood provided us with forums for these questions, forums where we could ask, answer, and exchange opinions as best we could with fel- low students. We championed our honour in ques- tioning momentous decisions as holding a dance on February 12 rather than February 19, and charg- ing 50c or 75c for admission. However, ludi- crous as it seems now, these issues were important, as we were part of these decisions at the time. They affected us. Our questions did not imply ignorance, rather, they indicated both intelligence and an awareness of a world greater than our youthful sphere. In- deed, one must not underestimate the intelligent perceptivity of youth. Our generation is thinking, and more important, we are involving ourselves in the affairs of our times. This is the age of protest — of questions. I feel that because of the rich education which we have received here, we cannot condone com- placency among tonight ' s graduates. Perhaps com- placency is the greatest sin of all. In our questions, we may question a concept that is valid, an insti- tution that is honourable. But we will also ques- tion a widely held concept that is invalid, and institution that may be the basis of the destruction of mankind. If I have not said farewell to O.C.I, tonight in the accepted idioms, it is for a definite reason. I feel that the purpose of education is not to teach us to memorize facts, not simply to enable us to obtain a Senior Matriculation Diploma, such as the one we have received tonight, not to prepare us to gain a university degree in the future. Edu- cation must provide us with the ammunition to meet the challenge of a callous world. We must not forget the principal reason for our attendance through five grades of Secondary School We must not forget the lessons of Oakwoud ' s not-so-ancient dialecticians. We must not fall short of the hopes of our teachers, who have attempted to reveal to us the true meaning of a most noble word — Why? Mark Sidney 13

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STANDING: I. Horowitz, F. Gentili, E. Edasi, K. Minemoto, S. Sax, H. Chan, F. Scolieri, A. Sternberg, M. Panturescu, D. Lewis. SEATED: H. Kaminsky, K. Imrie, M. Campbell, S. Chan, M. Sutherland, B. Falconi, H. Mason, G. Harvey, C. Clancey. AWARDS TO STUDENTS OF MIDDLE AND LOWER SCHOOL Isadore Horowitz — The Board of Education Centennial Scholarship for General Proficiency in Grade XII. Donna Lewis — The W. V. Tovell Prize for General Proficiency in Grade XII. Helena Kaminski (by reversion) — The R. A. Gray Memorial Prize for English and History, a bequest of the late R. A. Gray. Erni Edasi (by reversion) — The R. A. Gray Memorial Prize for M athematics and Science. Fred Gentili (by reversion) — The W. E. Hanna Prize for History, a bequest of the late W. E. Hanna. Sam Lombardo — The Gordon Hepburn Prize for Geography. Shirley Zucker — The Board of Education Centennial Scholarship for General Proficiency in Grade XI. Donna Zosik — Robert Pinkerton — The W. V. Tovell Prizes for General Proficiency in Grade XI. Gloria Harvey — Michael Panturescu — The Board of Education Centennial Scholarships for General Pro- ficiency in Grade X. Simone Chan — Douglas Lewis — The Board of Educa- tion Centennial Scholarships for General Proficiency in Grade IX. Colleen Clancey — Francesco Scolieri — The W. V. Tovell Prizes for General Proficiency in Grade X. Mary Campbell — Solly Sax — The W. V. Tovell Prizes for General Proficiency in Grade IX. Melanie Sutherland (by reversion) — the Gordon Hepburn Prize for Geography. Helen Mason (by reversion) — The Oakwood Parents ' Prize for English and History in Grade X. Allan Sternberg — The Oakwood Parents ' Prize for Mathematics and Science in Grade X. Kathleen Imrie — The Oakwood Parents ' Prize for English and History in Grade IX. Henry Chan — Kenichi Minemoto — Philip Willner (by reversion) — The Oakwood Parents ' Prize for Mathematics and Science in Grade IX. Bianca Falconi — The Girls ' Club Junior Trophy. Considering college or university ? Are you a candidate for assistance under the CANADA STUDENT LOANS ACT? Under this Act, each qualifying stucdent may present a Certificate of EligibiHty to the bank branch of his (or her) choice. Royal Bank, with over 1000 branches across CanacJa, offers you convenient service combined with practical counsel. Visit your nearest branch. 15