Alberta Normal School - Aurora Yearbook (Edmonton, Alberta Canada)

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L.M.MOYER

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AURORA, 1941-42 21 PRACTICE T€flCHinG On October 23, 1941, there left for points widely separated a group of highly excited and expectant young students. Why? Because as “mission¬ aries of education” some of them were going to the country of the mighty Peace, some to Athabasca, others East, still others South. ’Tis true that on that fateful Thursday, just before the “All aboard” for bus or train, many looked back longingly to the pleasant days and friendships that a month of Normal had provided. But after the iron wheels had begun to roll, and the tires of buses had begun kicking gravel at cars behind them, who looked back? After debussing or detraining came the ride to school on top of a lumber wagon. Every limb of the budding pedagogue had to be dedicated to the task of holding vital pieces of baggage on board. What matter if his coat was torn on the bedspring which was his fellow passenger? Who will ever forget how, on that first morning, he bravely led his group in the singing of “O Canada”, his voice ringing out strong and true, clear and unfaltering—until it cracked on the top note? Who will forget that morning on which he awoke with a premonition of things to come, and got to school to find the inspector waiting on the doorstep? Days came and days went, swiftly—some misted over with the problem of what to do with Jimmy, others rose colored with the knowledge that on this day at least he had taught somebody something. There were rabbit hunting days too, and days when some walked twenty miles in search of deer, while others stayed at home and let “dear” come to them. Is it not for this reason that our numbers were decreased by one? Ask two of the boys about the time they rode miles to see a third teacher, and, on enquiring of a small boy how much further they had to go, received the answer “Poppa and Momma”. They’ll tell you. Ask two of the other boys how they like canned pork and beans. They’ll tell you. Ask one of the girls about the three well-groomed horses that stood at the hitching post every Friday. She won’t tell you a thing. Well, they forded rivers and filled out reports, put on concerts and shot rabbits, ate bread and venison one week and venison and bread the next, learned new languages and met new people. Then they came back, some dis¬ illusioned, some more enthusiastic than before, but all with the feeling that “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world”. If you want to know what conditions are like on the frontiers of education, ask the trainees. “They Have Been There”. A. RONAGHAN, Class A.

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AURORA, 1941-42 YOUR CHOICE “Journeying by land and journeying by sea, coming and going so strangely to meet and to act and react on one another, move all we restless travellers through the pilgrimage of life.”—Dickens. I have watched for a number of years this action and reaction; this adjustment to new situations; this experience of first adventures in the Practise School, and I have learned to appreciate the fact that you students face an ordeal which is demanding as well as develop¬ ing. In times such as we now face, when positions are more plentiful but where remunerations for services in the teaching profession are still low, one asks why such a choice has been made. If you would strive to become financially secure in your mellowing years, or you are in search of an easy job, then you may be unaware of what is before you. It becomes apparent that behind the choice lies the high quality of service. Nothing may become so cold and cheerless as the first glimpse of your new school. You will find within its walls the positive and the negative, the alert and the dull, but when experience has taught you to meet situations and understand personalities, you will experi¬ ence a satisfaction of achievement that is rare indeed in other pro¬ fessions that you might have chosen. That you may often capture this thrill and that it may lead you to the highest and best in the teaching profession, is the sincere wish of the Staff of the Practise School. M. W. MacDONALD, Principal, Queen Alexandra Practice School