St Michaels University School - Black Red and Blue Yearbook (Victoria, British Columbia Canada)

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XYith the new gymnasium we were fortunate to secure the services of Blr. John Arscott, for he has imbued the boys with his own en- thusiasm and the standard achieved is already high, with better still to come. It is good also to have shooting practice once more in our own school. Since the demise of the old shooting range - a former bowling alley - we have had to depend on the resources of the Bay St. Armoury and the kindness of the R.C.N., who transported us there and back. This year the Armouries were closed to us so that our new range, underneath this Gym, has come only just in time. VVe can look for- ward now to the resumption of shooting as a full-time major activity. In other extra-curricular activities much has been done. The school newspaper. product of Grade XI, has improved in quality and en- couraged Harvey House to emulate it. The Chapel has seen many fine services. Drama has once again appeared and there have been debates both Senior and Junior-in other words, there has been a good, healthy atmosphere of activity throughout the school. This time last year we said good-bye to lNIr. Nlugridge, who was leaving to further his studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In the event, however, Mr. Mugridge postponed his move to Santa Barbara for a year, but to our regret he really will be leaving us this time and we shall miss him very much indeed. So, too, will we miss Mr. Wilson, who came to the school directly from Oxford seven years ago to try his hand at teachingf, He has utried his hand with great success both in the classroom and outside it. He now wishes to widen his experience and has accepted an invitation to join the Faculty at St. Andrew's, Aurora. He leaves with all our good wishes and happy remembrances. Another change which we regret is the retirement of Mr. Harry Smith. VVhen Mr. Smith retired as Principal of the Victoria High School - a post he held for 28 years - he was showered with honours, invitations and requests to give the benefit of his experience and pro- found scholarship elsewhere. These offers for the most part he declined. One day, however, I phoned him to ask his help. We were unex- pectedly short of a teacher of English and I phoned lNrIr. Smith to enquire where-at such short notice-would he advise me to look for a replacement. He suddenly said 'QI will come and help you outw and come he did and, after eight years, the term Mhelp us outi' is very inadequate to describe the work he has done here. XVe have been greatly honoured to have lNIr. Smith on our Faculty, and the memory of English verse, declaimed as only he can, will stay long with those boys who were fortunate enough to have him as their teacher-and with me, too, for frequently have I paused en route somewhere to listen to 'cSohrab and Rustumf, 'Z'The Scholar Gypsyn, Ilan KIcGrew or, best of all, some Shakespearian character boom- ing through the transom of his classroom door. fHenry Adams- a teacher is for eternity, we can never tell when his influence ceases.',j Thank you, Blr. Smith, for all you have done for us. The great event of the year, of course, has been the construction of the new buildings and the renovation of the old. Demolition began 1-I

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now remains is to finish paying for them. iN'e must have made a good beginning since we have received no unpleasant letters from the bank and, if we can but continue to follow the example set by some of you parents and friends, we shall be 'out of the wood in no time. The provision of these new facilities has enabled us to make con- siderable improvements to the old. To those who live here the changes seem but gradual and even. at times, slow, but, to those who left us only a short time ago, the changes are very apparent and considerable. Such old wooden buildings as remain have long outlasted their life and must be replaced ere long with stronger, better and pleasanter buildings. Kleanwhile. we have much for which to be thankful and not least this gymnasium wherein we are now seated. The academic side has shown a marked improvement on l963-6-l and, though from last year's graduating class the school is proud of Tom Seeger's subse- quent nomination to Wlest Point, and the advanced placement of Jack Allen, which brought a special letter of congratulation to the school from the Dean of Students and the Head of the Biology Depart- ment at the University of Puget Sound, we are still happier with the general over-all picture. There is a greater seriousness of purpose among the seniors and an awareness of the increased competition brought about by the population explosion in their age group, and this is all to the good. In the activities field we have had a good year. Our teams acquitted themselves well in rugby and basketball-indeed, the Junior basket- ball team reached the finals of the two Vancouver Island Junior Championships, which obviously promises well for the future. The First XV won 10 of their 12 matches, and tennis, swimming, cricket, have all had their share of success. This term the greater part of the school is most heavily engaged in track, and not only has the team defeated a number of High Schools but, last week. in Vancouver, re- tained possession of the Logan Trophy, which is the symbol of Track and Field supremacy among the Independent Schools of British Columbia-University School, Brentwood, St. Georges, Vancouver, and Shawnigan Lake, who, incidentally, were placed in that order in the competition. The annual Cadet Inspection was carried out this year by the Lieutenant-Governor and. somewhat to our surprise, it was well up to standard. I say surprise because the proportion of recruits to cadets was the highest on record, and the manner in which they drilled and worked to reach the standard set by their predecessors was most praise- worthy. There is no doubt the Corps has built up a wonderful tradi- tion over the years and that each successive generation seems to main- tain or enhance it. Owing to the absence overseas of the regular troops at XVork Point. we were unable to plan the normal Field Day, but the Navy came to the rescue and through the kindness of Admiral Stirling. Commander-in- Chief Pacihc Command, the Corps enjoyed an afternoon at sea on H.IXI.C.S. fllarkcfnzicx whose Commanding Officer is an Old Boy, Connnander H. R. iN'ade, on whose staff is another Qld Boy. Lieut. Roger Bernard. 13

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last summer term and great was the din thereof. All through the sum- mer vacation lXIr. NVheaton's men laboured and, when fall term began, we were able to use first one classroom, then another, then one labora- tory, then another and then the Assembly Hall once again and, finally, the whole building. All this time the foremen pushed and fretted and fumed with a personal interest and regard for our problems as though they were their own. Never, indeed, has any building been constructed with more goodwill between the builders and the school. lXIeanwhile, the gym foundations were excavated, slowly the walls were raised and the roof completed: finally the fioor was laid and then came the great day when the first gym practice could be held indoors. Our school carpenter, Erwin Presthofer, did the woodwork of the Armouries and rifile range and the lockers and, lastly, hxed the old Honour Boards with the teams, cricket, rugger and gym and the cap- tains of Cadets, of shooting and the rest, going back to 1907, firmly to the walls. Old Boys will be proud and glad to see how well these treasured relics from the old gym look in their new surroundings. May I, at this time, pay tribute, not only to lNIr. XfVheaton, the Con- tractor, and his team, but also to the Architects, Messrs. R. XV. Siddall Associates, who, with a fine sense of atmosphere, have given us the modern without disturbing the old and, within the comparatively mod- est terms of our budget, have succeeded in designing buildings which complement those we already possessed. Too many planners today wish to sweep away everything in sight before considering anything new, but the fact that one of the hrst considerations of design was the preservation of the fine old tree on the quadrangle is indicative of the care and thought which were exercised in the planning and when, on March 20th., the Lieutenant-Governor officially opened the build- ings by unveiling the Commemorative bronze plaque Citself a gift of the Architectsj, they must, I am sure, have felt the satisfaction which comes from a job well done. Speaking of Old Boys, we congratulate Ted Latour on his success in the Diplomatic Corps: Colin Godfrey on his scholarship at Harvard: John Greenhouse on his Stanford Awardg Anthony Keble on his 5152000 travelling scholarship to Chile, Peru and lvfexicog and Lawrence Devlin on his 555,000 Kellog Foundation Scholarship to the University of Chicago, where, I hope, he will find no evidence of price fixing of fees and the entrance gates already Win situ! Nicholas Etheridge obtained lst Class Honours in History at the University of British Columbia and is going to the University of Aber- deeng lvfartin Petter to Oxford: and such familiar names as hfichael Woollends, Iain Cgle, John Lucie-Smith and many others continue to appear with regularity in the Honours Lists at the Universities. The success of the Old Boys is a matter of the greatest satisfaction and pride, but the true success, or otherwise, of a school lies not so much in the spectacular achievements of the few as in the general performance of the many and, in this respect I think this has been a good year. The School Prefects and the XX Club -- who set the 15