Branksome Hall - Slogan Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

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Choir This year has been a very enjoyable and musically satisfying for the Junior Choir. An average at- tendance of seventy-eight girls per practice was an indication of the fun we had. In the fall, Mrs. Willingham introduced the Pop Choir for grades seven and eight, on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 8:15 — an eye opening ex- perience! Much of this year ' s success can be at- tributed to our competent stage crew; Adrienne Grant, Megan Long, Samantha Sharpe, and Dana Warren. The Junior School must thank Mrs. Willingham for her constant patience and effort. We are very lucky to have her in charge of our music program. Thanks to everyone who participated in and supported our music program. Heidi Ambrose. Library At the beginning of the term the people who wanted to help in the library joined the library club. Each librarian was assigned a day to work in the library, shelving, carding, and doing various other jobs. These people performed a very important service for the Junior School; thanks must go to them and to Mrs. Hollenberg, our Junior School librarian. May next year be as successful. Amanda Kirkland. Drama The grade seven trip to Quebec and the grade eight trip to Washington prevented a fast-paced start of the Drama Club this year. There arose one ad- vantage from these trips: during that time, Mrs. Ranger wrote the play which became our major production this year. The number of Drama Club members has been high in past years and this year was no exception. Instead of two plays, we produced one longer play; Hallowe ' en Summer . This mystery used the talents of our girls to the fullest and gave Mrs. Ranger a few grey hairs . Both the audience and the players had a good time. I would like to thank everyone who supported the Drama Club this year; and a special thanks to Mrs. Ranger, our director. Patty Azziz. 29

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CLUBS Debating The Debating Society was first added to the list of Junior School activities in 1977. In its first year, people were reluctant to join this new and different club. Convincing students that this society was fun, interesting, enriching, and a really worthwhile way to spend an afternoon was a hardship that should never have to be experienced by anyone. But last year was our sign that everything was going to turn out even better than we had planned. It was as if our dreams had really come true and our encouragement had payed off finally. Suddenly, it seemed that there were girls starting to appear, as if out of the blue, and full of enthusiasum! Then it happened! This year the turn-out for the Debating club numbered 33 terrific debaters who have made this a record year in the history of the Junior School! Anytime the Grade 9 debaters challenged us they were asking for trouble. If debating stays this good, it is going to be DYNAMITE next year! Catherine Adams. Opheleo What is the Opheleo committee? You may ask. A group of students, ranging from grade 6 to 13, meet to plan and organize events which raise money for worthwhile causes such as UNICEF, adopting a foster child and the B.H.S. Restoration. Generally, participation in the Opheleo has always been very good, and this year is no exception. In October, we met to make Christmas cards for the children of the Mutki Mission. Overall, we have done a great deal of fund raising, most of it enjoyable, but all of it useful and helpful. Ramabai Week fell in November. A penny roll, a strawberry key, a chocolate bar sale, Branksome week, and plenty of canvassing raised quite a large sum of money. I would like to give thanks to Mrs. Davidovac, our staff advisor, and Jacqui Atkin, the Opheleo prefect, and of course, everyone who was in the Opheleo and anyone who contributed. This year has been a great success, and I am sure the years to come will be too. Cynthia Swinden 28

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We are such stuff as dreams are made on (The Tempest, iv, (1.145)) by Catherine Temelcoff. 1979 Junior School Prize Essay You might find it strange that a thirteen-year old Canadian with no Italian roots or connections would dream of visiting one city above all others in the world — Florence. Over and over again Canadians returning from the grand tour of Europe had talked nostalgically of Florence, its natural beauty, and its culture. Their descriptions of the city made me take from the library books on Florence and the Italian Renaissance. These opened my eyes to the almost mythical wonders of this golden city of a golden age. Thus, it was with a feeling of excited expectation this spring, that I approached Florence in a drab tourist bus, after twenty hours of airplane and bus travel. I arrived when it was dark and the first thing I wanted to do was sleep. The dull, little hotel room, which as far as I was concerned could have been located on a parking lot in Toronto, did not prepare me for the wonders of the fifteenth century that were to greet my eyes during the next few days. Used to a sprawling, Canadian city where historic cities are barely one hundred years old, I could hardly believe that I could walk from one site to another within a matter of minutes and that everywhere there were buildings that had been begun by the Florentines as early as the eleventh cen tury. The building that I remember best, because it was so strange at first sight, is the Cathedral with its two separate parts; the Baptistry, and the bell tower and dome. Contrary to our grey stone, Gothic cathedrals in Canada, this one is a shock to the eye in black, white and green marble. We decided to tackle the five hundred steps leading to the top of the dome, and made our way up the narrow, dark, spiral staircase, being pushed against the wall by the crowds that were coming down. At the halfway point we could walk around inside the dome and look down into the plain transept or up the stained-glass windows that were done by Ghiberti, Donatello and other fifteenth-century artists. We continued up a still narrower staircase that led to an open ring on the top of the dome. From there we could see all of Florence and its surrounding hills. Did the designers of the cathedral echo the green of the hills against their black, angular cypress trees, and white stucco buildings? On the ground again I stood in front of the golden door of the Baptistry, called by Michelangelo, The Door To Paradise. I followed the Old Testament stories in the door, which were covered with architectural details, people and landscape. I wondered whether I would return home only with the feeling that they had inspired. I now know why people always want to return to Florence. Everywhere there is too much for the mind to absorb. Hypnotized at the time by the guides at the Uffizi museum, the Pitti Palace and the Medici Chapel, I have now forgotten many of the names and dates. However the idealized Botticelli faces and the plump della Robia cherubs remain forever. Has anyone who has ever seen Michelangelo ' s David ever looked at the form without a critical eye? After the days crowded with museums, churches and art, it was pleasant to sit under the towers of the Piazza della Signoria and to imagine the people of the middle continued . . . 30