Ashbury College - Ashburian Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

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24 THE ASHBURIAN be certain or definite about anything. Like Dr. Lowe, he also stressed the importance of a thorough understanding of the language. The delegates were guests of the Headmaster at a reception before luncheon in Symington Hall. After lunch there was a short business meeting during which Mr. G. G. Steel of Hillfield School was unanimously elected President for the coming year. After the meeting the group proceeded to the National Research Council where, under the guidance of Dr. Kohr, several active re- search projects including cosmic ray investigation, low temperature techniques, thermometer calibration, and sub-microscopic biology work were demonstrated. It was the unanimous opinion of the delegates that the whole day proved to be a most rewarding experience. ENGLISH At a conference of the Teachers of English at Independent Schools, held at Hilliield School, Hamilton, on Easter Monday, Ash- buryis Department of English was represented by Mr. Belcher and the Rev. E. G. Kettleborough. At this meeting thirteen representatives from nine Independent Schools were in attendance, with Mr. N. D. Lewis of Hillfield pre- siding as chairman, and to him our thanks are extended. The morning assembly was addressed by Dr. VVilds of McMaster University. VVithout attempting a detailed analysis in this report, we may say that his sensitive appreciation of the colour, flavour, sound and power of words, and his hints as to how this appreciation might be conveyed by teacher to pupil were stimulating in the extreme. In the afternoon the speaker was Mr. Nichols, Vice-President and publisher of the Hamilton Spectator. It was interesting to note that Mr. Nichols' practical, newspaper man's approach paralleled the academic attitude of Professor VVilds when he stressed the necessity for truth, strength and economy of words. If there is a moral to be drawn from this it might be: the music of the spheres and the music of the circulation are less than worlds apart. ARMY ln May of this year, the representatives of several schools were invited to visit R.M.C., C.A.S.C., and Corps Schools at Kingston. The purpose of the visit was that the representatives should be given a concrete picture of the type of training provided by the Army under R.O.T.P. and S.A.P., also an idea of the material ad- vantages orfered to the candidates.

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THE .-1 SHI? L'Rl.Al .Y 'Q mm, aw, 'N I 'fy ' sf Xlr. Snelgrove, Dr. MacDonald, Xlr. Powell, Dr. Lowe. Upper Canada College, St. Andrews College, Pickering College, The Grove, Lakelield, Sedbergh School, and Bishops College School. The Committee was indeed fortunate to welcome as guest speakers Dr. Percy Lowe, Head of the Xlathematics Department at RNIC, and Dr. Keith XlacDonald, Director of Low Temperature Research Division at NRC and Head of the Department of Physics at Ottawa University. Dr. Lowe, from his extensive knowledge of the standards in secondary education of all 10 provinces, described the preparation needed, not only in Xlathematics but also in Science, for a successful assault on the curriculum of the Service Colleges. He left us with the impression that the educational standards in Ontario were as good as any in the Dominion, but suggested that there was some danger that standards might be going down while the marks seemed to be going up. He mentioned also that there had been a reduction in the proportion of candidates for the Service Colleges from the Independent Schools, this might be due in part to the present R.O.T.P. requirement. He stressed that precision in the use of language was vitally important for success in Mathematics and Science, and suggested that teachers them- selves were not always guiltless in this regard. Dr. MacDonald declared that in his experience many students. even in honours work, did not seem these days to know their fundamentals - units, operations, methods - at all thoroughly, consequently they were always looking for help. In other words, they did not seem to

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THE ASHBURIAN 25 Thanks to the efficient organization of Lt. Col. A. C. Brett, A.A.G. and to a number of other oflicers assisting, this purpose was admirably fulfilled. Some six schools, including Ashbury, were represented at the convention. This year the classes in Nlusic Appreciation have been rather novel. Instead of the usual listening to music, discussing what had been plaved and becoming familiar with the lives of the com iosers we had each boy , Q I l Q Q . do a project on what was presented in class. The results were most interesting. There was imagination and artistic ability shown in most :- a . . of the work. The boys who did not draw well wrote essays and found pictures to put in their books. In forms Transitus III.-X, IIIB classes we covered the lives of Schumann, Brahms, Liszt, Berlioz, Beethoven and Handel. The Form prizes were given to those who did the best projects and who obtained the highest marks on their written test. They are listed elsewhere in this magazine. In Form II the project was on the instruments of the orchestra and the results can be seen in gaily coloured charts now adorning the walls of the Music Room. Form I classes were kept busy with Rhythm band, singing games and stories of music. VVe are looking forward to next year with the ever-present challenge of stimulating young minds to things beautiful. In addition to the projects noted above, those boys who are interested in music are given an opportunity to attend whatever con- certs and recitals may be available. This year a number of the boys heard a series of performances by the Ottawa Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tremblay Concerts and several piano and violin recitals. IRENE XXIOODBURN