Edmund Partridge Junior High School - Banner Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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A MESSAGE Somewhere the sky is blue, Somewhere bold hearts are true; Somewhere a wild bird cries, And man lifts up his eyes. He sees the heavens, He sees the earth, He sees the sorrow, He sees the mirth. Somewhere a storm is brewing, And people run in fright, While angry bombs are falling, Destroying in their spite. Man, who once had the world tight in his palms Listens unheeding to the angels ' warning psalms. Linda Singer, Room 17, Grade 7 LOST IN THE DESERT The feverish rays of the desert sun scorched the scattered bits of vegetation. Miles and miles of endless sand dunes stretched in every direction. Here and there the gleaming blanket was dotted with the many varieties of cacti. My throat was parched and my eyes were weary as I kept them on the world beyond me ... a world of absolutely nothing. Having no food and water for almost three days, I kept trudging on but my progress was unrewarded. Weak as I was, I knew that I must go on. But unable to go any farther I fell unconscious upon the scorching sand. A few hours later, I awakened and the cool breeze of the evening desert air seemed to revive me. Unfortunately the night would last but a few hours longer and I would once again be walking the lonely desert trail. Carolyn Chick, Grade VIII Room 14.

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POLTERGEISTS AND GHOSTS All through childhood we were continually told that there weren’t any such things as ghosts. Why then are so many universities and colleges, so many intelligent men investigating the possibility of the existence of ghosts? There have been records of ghosts, authenticated by thoroughly reliable witnesses, as far back as the 18th century. The people, at that time, who believed in ghosts and witches, were often the butts of these attacks. How¬ ever, the people who witnessed them, most of the time were skeptics or nonbelievers. Poltergeist, defined by the dictionary, as “a noisy mischievous spirit,” is a German word. They live up to their definition. They throw crockery and stones; ring bells which are electrically disconnected; defy the law of gravity; lift up heavy beds and gently set them down; tear clothes into small shreds; smash dishes; bite people; lift coals out of the fire; occasionally take various physical forms; speak; and do other similar things. Poltergeists usually use a small person or child to act unconsciously as a medium (one through whom spirits are able to establish contact with the physical world). These mediums are often the most abused victims. Remember that I am not speaking about ESP (Extra Sensory Perception), but about poltergeists and ghosts. These really existed, and many people of high standards and intelligence witnessed the occurrence. The following are some examples of what happens when poltergeists and people mix: In 1761, around Bristol, England, there occurred the case of the Giles sisters. It first began when Molly and Dobby Giles heard noises and scratchings at beds and windows. Their father thought at first it was the prank of some servant, but when the marks of heavy imprints of fingernails were found, he began to suspect the super¬ natural. Then the cover of a box was lifted into mid-air. Upon investigation there was no one there, but the girls had seen the hand which raised the top of the box. If the children tried to protect themselves with something it was taken roughly from their hands. The next day a nurse there, was hit sharply with a heavy wine glass. She was very badly cut. The next night before bedtime one child was nearly strangled by this hand, and the other was beaten on the head. All through the night the girls were beaten, bruised and bitten. The grown men seking to help them could not. They didn’t know what they were protecting them against. A little later the girls were being pricked with pins. The funny thing about it was that the pins were bent all out of shape, before everyone’s eyes, in less than half a minute, before being stuck into the girls. Occasionlly people were being bitten by the ghosts. Records of people who were bitten tell of different types of bites. One type had two distinct fangs and the other bite was made up of two rows of teeth. In Connecticut, around March 16th, 1850, an unusual occurrence happened. There were the usual flying objects (candlesticks, etc.), but this time images appeared. These images took the shape of clothes with people in them. About eleven apparitions, just one male and ten female were seen in church. The females carried prayer books in front of them. They were often in a kneeling position, and the very young children of the family thought one of these spirits was their mother praying. In 1874 throught two young boys and young girl (anyone could have been the medium) a poltergeist struck again. Potatoes which were boiling in the pot jumped out into the fire or just jumped out and disappeared. Cloth¬ ing was torn to shreds and an umbrella was seen to have leaped twenty-five feet. Chairs walked around in mid-air, and candlesticks seemed to come alive and wander aimlessly around the rooms. Cooking bowls rotated in mid-air and windows were always being broken, either by themselves or by stones, floating in the air. Dirty and clean, large and small, stones had a habit of hopping up and down the stairs with no one in the area to move them. In 1889 the George Dragg family was visited by these supernatural beings in a small town in the province of Quebec. There were four or five children in the family and they weren’t positive of the medium. The beginning of a long series of incidents began with money. This money was either stolen or spread all around in the most illogical places. In the same period of time, streaks of dirt were spread all over the floor and the woman of the house had all the hired hands and her children under suspicion. Soon milk pans were being emptied of their contents and the butter was spilt into the milk pans. Small fires were set off all over the house. One girl had her hair pulled so severely that it had to be cut off. This same girl was the first to hear the gruff voice of.? This poltergeist soon began to have conversations with the members of the family. His language was rough. Once he was asked who he was. He replied, “I am the devil. I have you in my clutches. You better get out or I will break your neck!” Once he was asked to write some¬ thing on a piece of paper. The “somethings” he wrote was not in the best of taste and he was severely repri¬ manded for it. When questioned as to why he set the fires, he informed them that he had set them purposely in the daytime, so that no harm could be done. One day three of the children were out in the yard. They rushed into the house, plainly excited, telling stories of a “beautiful man rising in fire.” It semed that a “beautiful” man with long white hair had held two of the three and had let the other play with his harp. Finally he put them down. He then seemed to rise or disappear with a bright red fire beneath him. Nothing could shake the children’s story. All through this I have been telling you about other people’s experiences. Now I shall tell you about events which happened to my family. The first one hap pened to my grandmother. She was sweeping the kitchen and speaking to her son on a hot summer day. All of a sudden scratching noises were heard outside of the house. My grandmother stopped and said, “something’s happened to my father.” Her son went out to investigate the noise. He found nothing that could have caused it. Later they found out that my grandmother’s father had died at that moment. This would have been ESP except for the unexplainable noises. What were they? The second incident happened just recently to me. Just as I was about to leave the house my mother heard a tap running. Investigation proved nothing. I walked through the freshly fallen snow to the side of the house. Imagine my surprise when I saw the outside tap running. I think 1 would have dismissed this as nothing if I hadn’t looked for footprints. There weren’t any. Just one more fact. Our house is near enough to the battlefield of Seven Oaks. I wonder if anything ties in. Everything I have told you about is true or has been true. No one can explain them. They can speculate but that’s all. What do you think? Delle Bonneau Grade VII Room 19

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WHY STUDENTS LEAVE SCHOOL “More students drop out of school!” “Only forty per cent of today’s high school students will graduate. These are familiar yet ever startling facts. The importance of obtaining a high school diploma is growing, yet more and more students fail to complete the courses offered to them. Why is this? Why is the number of “drop¬ outs” constantly rising while the chances for an uneducated job-seeker are constantly lessening? Look around you. So much stress is placed on maturity, or being “grown up.” The “ideal people” students see every day in the television commercials and movies are adventurous, worldly, and wealthy. They do not seem bothered by algebra problems, textbooks, and homework. The mind of the teen-ager is very impressionable. Natur¬ ally he wants to lead a free, easy life. To him the answer is to drop out of school. There is also much stress placed on money. To the teen-ager, money is the answer to all his problems. He desires to earn money right away. He quits school and takes a small job, thinking he will progress. It is not important to him that his job is small and he has no chance for advancement with his pood education. Now he can obtain some of the teen-agers’ most prized sttus symbols — clothes and a car. The teen-ager also desires to get married. He leaves school in order to appear more mature. He leaves with the assumption that he will soon marry and all his problems will be solved. After many years of school the teen-ager wants adventure. He cannot find adventure, he thinks, by studying his textbooks, so he feels he must leave school and make a life of his own. These many drop-out problems are dreaded by adults, not teen-agers. School itself also presents a problem. By the time a student reaches the higher grades he finds school a growing challenge. More stress is put on exams than on daily work. By failing to pass these exams the student feels his school life is finished. He sees no purpose in continuing his education. He drops out of school. He is pushed by his parents to study more than he can tolerate. His parents constantly drive him to achieving better marks than their neighbor’s son. The standards the high school student requires for University are very high and constantly growing accord¬ ing to the demands of society. A sixty per cent average is required. The average or below average student real¬ izes the futility of his striving for a university entran ce. The high school student is also presented with the discouraging fact that only forty per cent pass their examinations. He abandons his studies with the idea that education has no purpose for the average student. No doubt the importance of school has been drummed into him for years by teachers, parents and elderly dignitaries who visit the school. The high school student becomes worn out of hearing these golden oppor¬ tunities since his work is not good. He drops out of school with the “I’ll show them” attitude. The student’s attitude is also an important factor in determining whether or not he stays in school. The boy could become bored with the work he is taking. Boredom leads to unhappines and he will soon seek salvation in a job, or by simply doing nothing. Another reason for leaving school is frustration. That he has to go to school is what the student has been learning, yet his grades are poor. He would like more money but naturally he will take the easy way out. Mr. “Know-It-All” is another likely candidate for the list of dropouts. His grades are not good. He has his eye on a car he would like to buy. He is able to secure a position in a manufacturing firm. He wonders why he should study literature for the job he now could get and hold full-time. The person who drops out of school is one with an unrealistic attitude. The pay cheque he loses by remaining in school will be made up time and time again in the future. He realizes, however, only the importance of the present, not of the future. There are also some cases where the student leaves school because of a poor home life. He knows that with a job he can leave home. He might also quit for financial reasons. He feels he cannot cope with the growing financial demands of school and university. This is no excuse, since many scholarships are available. What is the answer? How can we curb this number of dropouts? By proper guidance some can be taught to think of the future. Patience is the key to guiding the teen-ager. It is difficult for the high school student to learn by experience in this case. Ask the man who dropped out! Phyllis Wasserman, Grade IX, Room 3.