Altona Collegiate - Green and Gold Yearbook (Altona, Manitoba Canada)

Page 6 text:

Message From Mr. Miller To the Students of Altona Collegiate: I am happy to extend through your yearbook our sincere best wishes from the Department of Education. Life, in many respects, is measured by milestones. Each school year, but more particularly the final one, is a most significant milestone. Gradua¬ tion from school has thus become a very important event in your lives. It is the climax of all your efforts and ambitions so far. It is a time to reflect upon the sincerity of your efforts and it is a time to consider again the direction of your ambitions. It may interest you to know that we have followed with interest your progress through school. Our school inspectors have visited you regularly. We have been interested in your teachers and the trustees of your school. They have all worked to provide a good education for you. Are you now ready to accept the challenge of life and in turn give to the world in even greater measure than it has already given to you? If you give less you will be ever in its debt; if you are prepared to give more, consider your school days have been well spent and that you are a person of whom we shall all be proud. I am sure you are ready to accept the challenge. W. C. Miller, Minister of Education. 4

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Chairmans Message On behalf of the Altona School Board, it gives me great pleasure to extend our heartiest con¬ gratulations to the students and staff of the Altona Collegiate. To the graduates must go special greetings. To them it represents the end of at least one phase of their education and the beginning of another. To them, I understand, goes the major cred ' t for the publication of this yearbook. We trust that the years spent in the Altona School system have laid the best groundwork possible and that this last half term will, in part, make up for those other years of difficult conditions. We sincerely believe that the Student Council can and does contribute tremendously toward a happy school. We greatly appreciate the efforts of this body, both for their contribution toward school morale and for the purchases made for the school. The fact that much time and effort have gone into making the purchases possible at this time speaks to us of a true interest in this collegiate. The role of the school board in the operation of the education facilities of any school becomes ever more important. You have our assurance that we will be constantly seeking ways by which we can better serve the youth of our community. We feel that with the facilities added in this past term we have come a long way. Doubtless other problems will arise but with the co-operation of the staff and student body we hope that we can constantly improve and make our school THE SCHOOL for us. Once again, congratulations, and the best wishes of the Board for a successful school term. Art Braun, Chairman, Altona School Board. 3

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A. C. KROEKER, B.A., B.Pd. Drama and Poetry, Grade XII German, Grade XII Literature, Grade XI Composition, Grade XI Guidance. Grade X, XI, IX Typing, Grade X, XI Geography, Grade X Music, Grade IX Choir Conductor Principal ' s Message The past school year has seen the fruition of the hopes and aspirations of what may justly be called one of the most educational-conscious com¬ munities in our province. The new Collegiate is now a reality—a lasting monument to the trust and faith which the citizens of Altona place in their most prized possession—their children. The additional space and modem facilities which are now at our disposal, have already done much to augment the efficiency of the educational process, and will undoubtedly continue to do so in ever increasing measure in the years to come. Education is big business. To function ef¬ fectively, it requires the combined efforts of the school, the homes, the churches, the School Board, the Department of Education with its divisional representative, and sundry public service organiza¬ tions. In our community, these various institu¬ tions, like the component parts of a great, well co-ordinated leviatnon, have rendered yeoman service in providing the best possible educational opportunities for our young people. Sustained effort in this direction cannot help but pay re¬ warding dividends in the future. At the very core of the youth’s education is, of course, the classroom teacher who daily works with the raw material. It has given me much personal satisfaction to work with the teachers who have staffed our schools during the past year, not only because each has fulfilled the task of classroom tuition so effectively, but because all have given me much kind and indulgent co¬ operation in this, my “freshman” year at ad- ministrational duties. V But the final responsibility of drawing maxi¬ mum returns from the educational process rests with the student himself, for he and he alone, can integrate the knowledge which he has acquired at school, with the work-a-day world into which he will step with alarming abruptness when he leaves the cloistered halls of his alma mater. With the graduates of ’56, I would like to leave the simple, yet profound lesson implied in an ancient Grecian legend which tells of a boy who attempted to outwit the Oracle. With a live bird in his hand he approached the sage’s presence. He would ask him, “Is the bird dead?” If he answered “Yes,” the boy would open his hand and let it fly away. If the Oracle said, “It is alive,” he would crush it in his hand and drop it dead to the ground. So the boy came to the Oracle. “Is this bird dead or alive?” The Oracle looked long and searchingly into the young man’s face. “My lad, it is as you will, it is in your hands!”