Balmoral Hall School - Optima Anni Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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E ECUTIVE CCU CIL -5 EXECUTIVE AND STUDENT COUNCILS There were 15 meetings of the Student Council this year. Although vve planned to hold meetings every second vveek, often other extracurricular activities interfered. The representatives of the council this year helped plan the dances, tally-ho, and coffee-houses, and on the whole the council worked well. As vvell, the Executive Council carried on meetings. I suggest that in future strict order be kept in these meetings, as they often proved useless. However, for the most part, it worked well. Thanks so much to all the class presidents and vice-presidents as well as the Dalton House Com- mittee for all your contributions to the running of the Student Council this year. Good luck to next year's council. Nancy 22

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ancy: Head Girl Elisabeth: School Captain This year it has become more and more evident that the future of the boarding school is in debate. The social environment in Canada today exerts pressures on residences so that many times, es- pecially in the girls' schools, they are unable to cope with them. The trend towards breaking down the class structure has instilled in people the idea that private schools are a breeding ground for petty snobs . As well, inflation and high taxes discourage parents from paying extra for their chiIdren's education. lt would be a shame to see the private school disappear entirely. Balmoral Hall offers a good scholastic education but what is more important, it gives its girls a chance to become individuals. At larger schools, especially at the critical ages, it is very easy for a girl to lose her identity, not enough encouragement and individual attention is given. At BH, perhaps because it has a residential atmosphere, a personal touch is added to school life. The social pressures found in public schools tie., competition over clothes, boysl is, obviously, not found here and this also makes it easier for girls to really be themselves. The opportunity for girls to meet girls from all different parts of the country, to learn to live together in co-operation, and to accept and put forward different view points can only be beneficial. It is for these reasons, let alone academic ones, that schools like Balmoral Hall should not be let to fold. The urge to keep it going must come from within the school. The saying United we standg divided we fall is a true one, as is the well-worn one that the school is what you make it . School spirit should not just be pulled out once in a while - it should be the mainstay of the school. ln closing, we would like to thank you very much for giving us this opportunity to learn and to experience responsibility. Yours sincerely, Nancy Bi ley, Lis Deckker 21

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