Broadview High School - Beam Yearbook (Broadview, Saskatchewan Canada)

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THE SCHOOL DAY OF JOHN Q. DOLITTLE John’s school day usually begins at 9.05 (he is always late). He saunters into the classroom and lets himself fall into his chair. Ten minutes later, he is ready to go to work. The first subject of the day is French. Now, as the only thing that interests John in France is Bridgit Barbot, he doesn’t do very well. John usually finishes his sleep he had to interrupt by coming to school, in French class. Next comes science. After his nap, John is refreshed and ready to go! Of course, he isn’t ready to work, but he is ready to have some fun. Out comes his arsenal, con¬ sisting of two boxes (which once contained geometry sets) full of miscellaneous weapons. A few of them are: compass, several tacks, several erasers and pieces of chalk, three or four elastics, and a good supply of paper wads. His aim is excellent, and he is able to hit anyone in the room. Science is one of John’s more enjoyable classes. When the recess bell gees, John is the first one out of the room. In his mad dash to the door innocent pupils are sent sprawling. And, of course, he is the last in when recess is over. After recess comes either composition or literature. In John’s opinion they are a bore. They are made especially boring because John has nothing to do. The teacher won’t let his “fool around,” and naturally he doesn’t do any work. By this time John is getting hungry. But, he still has one period to go, that is algebra. He usually manages to pass algebra at exam time, but these “flukes” don’t come from any hard work. In elementary school he used to be able to add, but algebra is a little harder so he has almost given up. The long awaited bell rings, and John is away. He crashes through the lunch crowd that is coming in, takes a short cut across the gym floor, and then saunters home. Of course, John arrives back at school late. It is now time for the geometry period. He takes out his arsenal again and begins a full scale war with the boys on the other side of the room. Social Studies class now comes around. For John this is another rest restricted period. He finds it very boring if he can’t play, and since he has no desire to work, John takes his afternoon nap. Often this nap is interrupted by the teacher very rudely suggesting that John had better remain after school. Afternoon recess is a repeat performance of the morning recess. The last period of the day is Latin. John is much too lazy to take Latin, so this gives him a spare period. Most of the boys congregate at the back and fight, throw desks, chairs, and running shoes, much to the frustration of the Latin teacher. Finally, the last bell rings. But, John’s school day is not over yet. Everyday, without fail, he has a detention to serve. He has his own favorite seat in the de¬ tention room, and it is almost like home. Detention over, with a sigh and a yawn, John leaves the school, and another day is over. -—Donald Perrie, Grade X. OWNING A T.V. SET Owning a T.V. set is not all it is “cracked” up to be. In fact, at times, it is an absolute nuisance. There are few, if any, educational programs being telecast and the rest is ninety-nine per cent trash. The “humerous” programs usually end up looking pretty sick to all those but the feeble minded who have no perception of the finer arts. When one of these better programs comes on, the set is usually shut off with the comment, “Who wants to watch that junk?”, never thinking they might enjoy it if they gave it a chance. T.V. could become an important media of learning if used for learning. It softens their bodies and minds. They become pale and wan with no ambition, initiative or imagination. Are these the kind of people we want to lead our nation? Certainly not! What we want are streng, healthy, intelligent people who will do their utmost for their chosen fields of labor. How can we become this by sitting before a twenty-one inch, flickering image of trash? We can’t! T.V. should be revived for the education and betterment of our people, not the destruction. The telecasting hours should be cut down so people would go out and amuse themselves and develop strong bodies and minds. If something is not changed, we will practically cease to exist other than before our T.V. sets. If that is our future, I do not wish to be part of it. —Cathie Anderson, Grade IX.

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strangely enough, seemed to be that of a female. Not wishing to fight a female that I could not even see, I dropped my rifle and stopped. From out of the jungle stepped a dark-haired, brown-skinned native girl, clad in a red cloth outfit trimmed with flowers. She spoke English and told me that I was on a small island in the South Pacific. She said it was inhabited by no one except her tribe of beautiful native girls. If I was dreaming, I never wanted to be awakened. Unfortunately an American troop ship landed there a week later and I was again in the war. —Dale Laird, Grade XII. WINTER WONDERS A Canadian year would not be complete without the winter season, although it is considerably longer than required. Some mystic and sometimes awesome scenes of this season are the first frost, snow, hoar frost and icicles which contribute much to¬ wards the granduer of winter. First, as quickly as a flash, the first frost cf winter descends upon us. Over night, tree leaves become many different brilliant colors. Rivers, creeks, sloughs and lakes cover up with a smooth, enticing film of crystal clear ice. This thickness increases until finally many sports may be carried out on it. The first frost has been nicknamed Old Jack Frost. Shortly after, a carpet of soft, fluffy-white sncw is dumped on the expanse of our land. With the sun shining on this sheet, a fairy land of diamonds is produced. The weather is nippy, and consequently cheeks are rose-tinged with health, happiness, and vigor. In certain years snow is abundantly piled in drifts and blown about in fierce blizzards. The snow is blown, rolled up into snowmen, and dug in. This soft, billowy disguise is worn by our country for more months of the year than any of the other seasons. Another bewitching scene of winter is hoar frost. Hoar-frost is white frost or frozen dew. With the rise of the sun in the background, a phenomenon is produced which is cherished by people from Europe. This setting reminds them of the fruit blossoms cn trees in their old country. For those who have never seen this contrast, hoar-frost is the exotic jewellery worn by sleeping trees. Of course, like many things, hoar-frost can also be very destructive. Next in line, during a slight rise and fall of temperature, is the icicle. Usually these are circular, pin-point objects so often used for children’s swords and to in¬ scribe writing in the snow. After an extremely warm winter day, icicles may be formed in gigantic proportions by a snappy zero spell of weather. These mammoth icicles make designs worthy of praise from even an architect, because of their original and varied shapes. For the majority, winter is a time of sports, picturesque patterns, and a cooling-off period. —Vivian Brown, Grade X. THE TRUTH ABOUT SANTA Is he, or is he not real? Is he just a figure of ima¬ gination? The answer is yes, but little does it matter. The fact that he has brought happiness and joy to thousands of little children, of all countries, colours, and religions throughout the world, makes him the most well-beloved man ever known. Every nationality has its own name for him, but they all mean the same. He has been known as Chris Cringle, Father Christmas, and Santa Claus. To children he is portrayed as a jolly, little, fat man with rosy cheeks and a nose like a cherry. He is a per¬ son that laughs all the time; he is always happy, but never sad. He is clothed in red and black, with his long white whiskers and hair adding color to his costume. He comes to us in a tiny, heavily-laden sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer; the most famour reindeer, of course, is Rudolph. Out of his big brown bag comes the wonder and excitement which awaits every boy and girl on Christmas mom. Many songs and poems have been written about this jolly, little old fellow, and stories have been told the world over about the wonderful deeds he has done. He has lived, and will live, for many years to come, and he will be known by children forever. —Sherry Carnahan, Grade IX.

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MY LITTLE PARADISE Everybody has a dream of what paradise is, and what it would look like. This is my version of what “My Little Paradise” would look like. I would locate it in British Columbia in some secluded little valley in the Rockies. In this little valley, there would be a lake of fresh, cool, clear water just teeming with fish of all kinds and sizes, waiting to give me the sport and relaxation of fishing. In the forest around the lake, I would have a game preserve full of all kinds of these animals and birds survive the winter months. I would also keep a couple of carnivorous and herbivorous animals. I would also raise hay and some grain to help raise good sturdy saddle ponies for my own use, and I am quite sure a horse would enjoy living there much more than it would living in some dusty old pasture. For my own quarters, I would build a lodge of sweet smelling pine logs, and I would also make all my furniture of pine. I would have the odd tawdry little con¬ veniences like a home-made shower, an outboard motor, and a sixteen foot Peter¬ borough boat. The animals I would like to have the most in my little valley are the deer, elk, moose and Rocky Mountain goat. With some mink, beaver, weasel, otters, and the odd bear just to keep things lively and also so that the valley would not become over populated. I would like to have the authority to tag birds and vaccinate the deer and other herbivorous animals to keep the valley free from disease. After I had all these things, I would not be miserly with them and I would not live like Uncle Scrooge. I would have a short-wave radio and a plane with which to communicate with the outside world. I would also take the odd visitor with me to my humble little abode, but I would be careful in picking the persons I would take for I would not want word of my paradise getting out to hunters who would come and slaughter all the wild life innocent to the ways of human beings. I would also teach lesson to these visitors I would have, as to how beautiful nature is in her own untouched, wild state, and how innocent are her animals. In this little paradise with all its beautiful trees, flowers, birds, and animals is where I would like to spend the biggest part of my life, trying to keep nature lovely in the way it was meant to be, while I enjoy good health, sports, and a clean way of living. I think my greatest enemy that I would meet in trying to do this would be the human race. For in this world of ours there seems to be an unquenchable thirst for destruction and torture of all living things, and the “Little Paradise” is my answer as to the way of avoiding all this meanness and corruption. Although all places and people are not like this, the majority are, and you may gather from this that I would like to change the world, and my answer to that is no, I would not. You cannot stop progress. You may wonder how to get enough money to acquire a little paradise such as this. The answer is, it does not cost you a penny, all you need is an imagination and the ability to be a dreamer. —Lynn Baker, Grade XII. TO HAVE OR NOT TO HAVE A running deer, The rising sun, Oh, it’s so near, And me without a gun. No running deer. No rising sun. The mom is cold and drear’ Because now I have a gun. —Barry McFadden, Grade XII.