Branksome Hall - Slogan Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

Page 7 text:

HEAD GIRL ' S MESSAGE As this year closes, I look back over many years at Branksome. Strange and exciting things have occurred in this time for me, but now I want to focus on this year. For the first time some of our prefects were elected in September. This step, as well as the abolition of sub-prefectship led to the unity of a prefect group who have headed your school activities and have listened to your many, enthusiastic ideas. Many other signs of growth are evident. Ribbit was married; the number of girls in the chancel at the Carol Service in- creased (and space decreased); all five basketball teams, under Sylvia ' s friendly guidance, worked together to bring home the cup; and in February Miss Sime climbed atop a steam shovel (!) and dramatically turned the sod for the new wing on Main House. The junior girls, too, achieved much this year. Their Slogan contributions were innumerable; their teams were ex- cellent and their spirits always alive. I thank you all, from the smallest kilt- clad grade two girl to the oldest graduate, for your support. One aspect of Branksome life has changed very little — boarding. Some- where a bed will always be found apple-pied; kids will always (despite exuberant ? checks) skip walk. There will always be burgers or a similar substitute, and there will always be rules. So, boarders, take it from a veteran. Make the most of boarding. You have many opportunities to meet people; you don ' t have to walk far to school and there will always be meals you like (or dinner leaves). If all fails, think of boarding as an experience. It helps. This year has been one of growth and fun. For me, it has been one of my happiest and one I will never forget. It is all of you, with your cheerful- ness, enthusiasm and support that have made it so special for me, and I thank you for it. Sandi. Year Book, 1971 Page 5

Page 6 text:

PREFACE When the first drills started their pummelling towards the construction of the new addition, they initiated the great Branksome Face-Lift. (Yes! lockers!) The school is committing itself to change, to progress, in an attempt to increase the number of assets it is already offering you. The essences of life at Branksome will still endure. The annual flood of spectators at Playday, the incredible overnight transformations prior to school dances, the playing, the learning and the ultimate maturing will go on. The Slogan is also undergoing a face-lift. We hope it will offer you a more creative and modern (yes! dull paper!) yearbook, with not-so-instant- replays of the year ' s activities. The conspiracies of camera day, the conquests of our teams, and the facets of daily life which can be captured by pen or camera will last as long as the new un-shiny paper. In addition you will enjoy, we hope, the New Improved Product of a hard working group of girls who have tried to make each page and each report interesting rather than compulsory. We may have failed. However, our legacy is that like others before us, we have attempted some changes. We have left you heirs to build on our innovations, to improve on our mistakes and to progress. You can be one of two kinds of people. You can be a person who has never failed . . . who has never succeeded either, but who, by never attempt- ing to progress may exist with no failures behind her. On the other hand, you can endeavour to improve what you already have, risking possible failure. No progress — no moon landing, no medical discovery, no political change could ever have been achieved without people willing to take risks. Give of yourself! Do not merely exist. Contribute. In participating in the activities of the school, in trying to bring about constructive changes, and in making the effort to leave, your personal contribution behind, be it by helping some one who needs you or by trying to better an existing institution, you are committing yourself to necessary progress. The following pages are coloured by your personalities. With your support, with the helpful guidance of Miss Forsyth and Mrs. Campbell and with the generous hours of Slogan staff, we offer you your best. Good luck and keep smiling. Sheila. Page 4 The Branksome Slogan

Page 8 text:

My dear Girls, To the east of the Main Building there is now rising a new wing to which we have all been looking forward for more than a year. It is exciting to see the activity of the construction site and to measure every day the progress that brings us closer to occupying our fine new facilities designed to modernize our teaching and our administrative scene. The purpose is obviously to make Branksome a better school but I think we must all be reminded that bricks and mortar will not of themselves make us better no matter how modern or how elegant their arrangement. We will make true progress only if we progress as people and if we use our new quarters to that end. The Resource Centre must show us a wider world and make plain our responsibilities in it; the French Laboratory should be the place where we achieve a genuine feeling for Canada ' s second language and an ambition to comprehend an ancient culture as well as its manifestations in our own country; the New Science Laboratory will give us further opportunity to open our eyes to the wonders of our expanding knowledge of nature; the Home Economics rooms will emphasize the essen- tial position of women at the centre of our culture, in the home. Just as the new offices will be only as efficient as the people who work in them, so will the whole building be only as vital as its inhabitants. From the effort of many hands we receive a handsome new addition to our physical plant but if we are truly to build a better school, we must work the miracle ourselves by our devotion to that spirit in which the project was conceived — a spirit of faith in the corporate body of Branksome and in its contribution to the future. Yours affectionately. Page 6 The Branksome Slogan