Eastern High School of Commerce - Eastern Echo Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

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20 EASTERN ECHO .lessons being broken by sports, literary meetings, inter-form competi- tion an-d rugby games. With our third year there came the parting of the ways. Some stayed to seek further knowledge, others passed on to the outer world of business. Now we are ready to go out and take our place with our innumer- able fellow-worlqers. VVe seek to pay the debt we owe to our parents, our sc-hool and our teachers by service to our fellowmen. To you who will carry on we leave the future reputation of our scliool, and we are hoping that some day you will come to love and respect the name of Eastern Commerce as we have done. As we leave you to-night, our friends, our teachers, and our principal, we feel that no Words of ours can express ou-r gratitude 'for the patience and understanding you have given us, no matter how try- ing vve became. XNe shall always be watching 'for great tihings to corme from Commerce. Let us repeat that our debt to Eastern Commerce for all she has done in the development of our minds and our bodies, may be partly repaid by our utilizing the education we have received for our country and by always remefmrbering that it will be by our actions that the world will judge this Eastern High School of Commerce, as we are her representatives. E. H. S. C. ALUMNI ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE Standing-Mr. Leonard Smith, Mr. Walter Smith, Mr. Leonard Mills, Mr. Milton Hamilton flpresiclentlg Mr. Alfred Harrison fTreasurerDg Mr. Ernest Osborne fPast Presidentj. Seated-Miss Eldred Mahaffy fRec. Secretarylg Miss Rheta Robertson fCorresponding Secretaryl: Miss Elizabeth Tayler fVice-Presidentj.

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EASTERN ECHO 19 years, while many of our friends struggled and strived to conquer Work. Then .farewell Commerce. Although we leave you smilingly, the parting is no less grievous. Now we must weather the storms of life without your protection, we must brave the blasts and enjoy the calms alike, while we are urged on by our ambitions and guided by the ideals that your thorough training has stirred in us. ' To our parents and to you, Commerce, do we owe our education which after all is just a part of our learning tio prepare us for the future. lt is this preparedness to face the world, to help understand its problems, that will make the distiny of our future Canada. For is it not this student generation who will answer the call for leaders? lt will be the student of to-day who will help form the destiny of the world to-morrow. Do we forget all we have ever learned when we leave our class- rooms? It sometimes seems that way. But sooner or later that knowledge comes to the fore to be used to cope with some problem, and to make 1ife's pathway smoother and surer. The wisdom and broader vision of the business world will help and is helping us to speak and think intelligently with others who have experienced the pitfalls and are now on the road to success. It is during our sojourn here that we have been brought to realize the suffering of to-day. We have just commemorated the Remem- brance Day which, for every person here to-nighit, will have a diifer- e-nt meaning and which to us portrays one side of the world's cruelty, pain-ting a picture more vividly and realistically to our parents and our teachers than to us. It is so we who are about to enter this business world may understand all this, and so pre-pare us for the many bumps and downfalls, that we are -given the advantage of this high school edu-cation. Thus by maintaining the high ide-als, and optimism of school life, alll petty grievances and prejudices are banished, giving us a more -broadened outlook on life suggesting pro- gress t'hrough peace. When First we entered Commerce, as unlearned and uncul-tured graduates from our many public schools, we marvelled at the self- possession of the noble seniors, and watched with growing interest and awe how they took everyfthiing as a matter of form, while we felt overwhelmingly s-mall and insignificant. Graduarlfly however, we gained our bearing. Although we did not take pant in many school activ-ities, We studied everything carefully and imagined ourselves in their places. Our interest in our school quickenedl We waited impatiently lu gain recognition from those over us. I-t came at the annual field day. Here we worked off the stored up energy of a year, with all the virility and vigour of youth, and when the day ended, we crept home tired but happy, wish-ing that every day could be a field day and only one day ifor school. Our final examinations! To our surprise we were requested to bring a stamp in order to have our results mailed to us. Then began the endless hours of waiting, the tense moment it tool: to scrutinize the newspaper. We started on our second year with a feeling of self-importance. be-cause we were the le-ar-ned second formers. The monotony of our

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EASTERN ECHO 21 'SNA I, f'-j s. XXX I ' , X-, . ' 4 N X. H7 X 'i 1 'T t : N?T7 Wzf 'T-if! X 4 X X Xxl t fix X .T iw- tl J ' 1 ,if . . X- . I , y Eastern . K Echoes f 5 7 Hr. Unique Class at Eastern Commerce O start something new shows courage. To succeed shows resource- fulness. The co-operative class in Retail Merchandising is on its Way. We doubt if any other class in Ontario can point to a similar record. Twenty-two of the original 25 students report that from September 2, 1931, to February 1, 1932, they worked 8802 days, completed almost 35,000 transactions, sold almost 5543.000 worth of goods, and received in wages S2,104.31. These facts tell a story, a story of co-operation between store and school, the story of an experiment. But this is not all. The members of the class are trained to serve the public. This kind of service is important. A good purchase well made becomes a joy. One of the functions of a vocational school has to do with earning a living. This is a new avenue of approach to business. Four or live days a week in school, one or two days a week in the store. and then the Christmas rush, when the class members are busy selling. At school, study of materials and economic geography, salesmanship and business organization, arithmetic, penmanship, spelling and English-a wealth of information about many things that we use every day, how they are made. sold, delivered and used. Look at a storeHat the goods, and think how little you know about it and them. In this way you will get some idea of what the person engaged in merchandising needs to know. New enterprises move slowly at first. Too much must not be expected. However, it seems safe to predict that the value of a course in Retail Merchandising will this year be shown. Incidentally, the first class dinner was held on Monday, .Xpril 13, at the Royal York Hotel. Mr. Sorsoleil, Deputy Minister of the llepartment of Public Welfare of the Province of Ontario was the guest speaker. Employers, teachers and friends were present for a most enjoyable evening. Anyone who is interested in the class should talk to Mr. Keast. -illisx Cuslorf, ,lldstt Clus.v.