St Johns Ravenscourt School - Eagle Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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LOWER SCHOOL

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THE GOVERNORS’ HONOURS LIST McCreath, Kruegar, Searle, Thompson, Hammond, Kobrinsky. At Fathers’ and Sons’ weekend in the fall of 1968, the Chairman of the Board announced a new award for academic achievement, to be known as the Governers’ Honours List. After announcing the names of those elected for the award in the 1967-1968 academic year, Mr. Searle explained the purposes of the award. The Honours List is intended to honour and encourage scholastic achievement in each complete school year, by recording and perpetuating the names of outstanding scholars in the Upper School, whether or not they are returning to S.J.R. in the following year. It is also hoped that the award will supplement the Red River Scholarship programme by giving a really valid gauge of scholastic achievement, which will be of use to students when applying for entrance or scholarships to universities. Certain privileges and duties are attached to the award, the privileges being a distinctive tie, in the school colours, to be worn with the school uniform, a permanent record of those elected each year to be inscribed on boards in the Dining Hall, a dinner with the Board of Governors, study priviliges for boarders and a substantial entertainment allowance. Those elected will be expected to organize and run an internal tutorial system for boys in need of academic help, and they will also act as school hosts when there are visitors at S.J.R. Those elected to the Honours List for 1967-1968 were: Grade Twelve: Mark Dallas, Jim Lawson. Grade Eleven: Peter McCreath, Stewart Searle. Grade Ten: Nathan Kobrinsky, Lawrence Thompson. Grade Nine: Michael Hammond. Grade Eight: Hugh Brock, Stephen Krueger. Mr. Searle presented the new ties at a school assembly this spring. In future the announcement of awards and presentation of ties will take place at the banquet on Fathers’ and Sons’ Weekend. This “Valete” is out of place because of the deadline system used by The Eagle. —editor. WILLIAM LEONARD Mr. Leonard, who came to St. John’s-Ravenscourt in the fall of 1965, to teach English, is moving to British Columbia with his family where he has accepted a teaching position. Mr. Leonard will be much missed at the school: in the classroom, on the playing fields, in the rink and at the chessboard. In addition to his regular teaching timetable, Mr. Leonard coached Bantam or Intermediate Canadian Football for four years; he was Referee-in-chief of the Independent School Hockey League; he was staff advisor to the Chess and Bridge Clubs and on at least two memorable occasions arranged for world champion chess player Abe Yanofsky to come to the school to test the boys’ skill at Chess. Mr. Leonard was the creator and advisor of the S.J.R. Athletic Council. In addition he organized many trips to Hockey games and was an able referee in the House System Games Schedule. Before coming to S.J.R. Mr. Leonard attended the University of Western Ontario from which University he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1963. He later graduated from The Ontario College of Education and taught at Espanola, Ontario for two years prior to coming to S.J.R. Since coming here he has almost completed the requirements for the Bachelor of Education degree at the University of Manitoba. The Headmaster, boys, and staff wish Mr. Leonard all the best in his chosen career. 64

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LOWER SCHOOL HEADMASTER’S FOREWORD On a typically wet, overcast, gloomy day in London, England, I met Mr. Gordon for the first time in the lobby of the Cumberland Hotel. There were two aspects of this first encounter that impressed me. The first was his predilection for curry which became apparent as soon as we ordered a meal and the second was the complete absence of pomposity in his make-up. Too many men make themselves small by puffing themselves up. Dick Gordon is not one of them. In the course of the next ten years, I found out much more about him—he believed in a boy’s inalienable right to develop his own character and hated the idea that a school might “mould” it. In a word, he believed to a greater degree than most headmasters, in the essential freedom of staff and boys to act on their own responsibility. No boy was ever sacrificed on the altar of expediency and no blanket judgements were made whilst he was headmaster. He believed in the sanity of treating individual boys differently, in giving them the maximum freedom to act on their own initiative, and if necessary, to learn by making their own mistakes. It was in the pursuance of these ideals that Mr. Gordon showed his strength. Flexible in his dealings with boys, he was nevertheless inflexible in the observance of these principles where running the school was concerned. He was not interested in running a well-oiled machine, since this would pre-suppose that boys were mere cogs in that machine; but cogs have to rotate in a prescribed manner, and any suggestion that boys should thus rotate was to Dick Gordon an anathema. When you meet men who were at St. John’s-Ravenscourt School between the years of 1952 and 1968, you will meet men who have held their own destiny in their hands during their school years. They will not in their youth have been wet-nursed and they will not have been bludgeoned into shape, if you find there is an ease in their manner, individuality in their thought, and openness in their expression, it will in no small way be due to the liberal education that they received at the hands of Mr. Gordon. C. B. Kiddell, Head of Lower School. HEAD BOY’S REPORT This year has been a very busy one for most boys. Apart from the usual academic pursuits, there are still numerous interest clubs, the most popular of which are the judo, rifle, and model railway club. Our thanks go to Mr. Wilson, Mr. Beare and Mr. Bevis for these options. The Lower School play for this year, “King Patch and Mr. Simpkins” has been a great success, and is the product of weeks of rehearsals under the direction of Mr. Shepherd. Once again the choir has been formed from boys of grade four to twelve. Under the firm direction of Mr. Shepherd, it has performed excellently before numerous audiences. The 1969 edition of the S.J.R. Winter Carnival also made a great hit, starting the day off with skating races right up to a delicious dinner. On behalf of the Lower School, I would like to thank all people who have helped to make this a prosperous and enjoyable year. I would also like to thank my fellow monitors for all the support they have given me. Allan Beech 66