Elmwood School - Samara Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

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12 SAMARA kinds of velvet bags and carved wooden ani- mals in Crafts. Altogether, we have had a most interesting year of Arts and Crafts. Special Art Class This year the Special Art Class was very interesting and varied. Until Christmas Mr. Hyndman taught us; but as he was unable to continue afterwards, Miss Maxwell, the Junior Arts and Crafts Mistress, took over. The remainder of the course proved very novel as we tried several new tricks in painting. All in all, the art has been very good and we are very grateful to both Mr. Hyndman and Miss Maxwell. Music Piano— Many girls, both juniors and seniors, took piano lessons this year from Mr. McTavish. The school is becoming extremely musical; people who don ' t even take music had to be stopped continually from pounding out popular ditties on the protesting piano. Tish Heeney has played our hymns throughout the year and we are very grateful to her— and for her. Janet Chapman and Seddon Ryan both passed music exams with commendable results and deserve congratula- tions. Choir— This year the choir has been busy. There was a recital of Carols at Christmas and the choir also sang at the Confirmation Service at Christ Church Cathedral on Passion Sunday. Mr. McTavish has been invaluable and has given up a great deal of his time, which is scarce, since he has numerous other choirs as well. Public Speaking Juniors, intermediates, and seniors ... all were well represented in this year ' s public speaking contest. Harriet Nye and June Fraser tied for first place in the junior section. Harriet delivered a delightful httle speech on My Dogs , in which she openly admitted that she understood their naughtiness as she, too, was rather naughty at times. The Toronto Subway is a difficult topic for any one to talk on but June Fraser did it justice. We shall never forget the sentence in her essay to the eflFect that if they kept on build- ing subways they would soon reach China! All of the intermediate speeches were in- teresting and Sarah Jennings received top honours in this section for her talk on UNESCO . Semi-finalists in the senior group were Sheila McCormick and Sally Wright with Sheila emerging as victor. Sally chose to talk On Public Speaking , a very appropriate subject that amused all of us. Sheila, Elm- wood ' s ballerina, told us about Anna Pav- lova , one of the world ' s greatest ballerinas. Mrs. Bliss, our friend and judge, must have had a difficult time choosing the winners. All in all, we think that Elmwood once more lived up to its motto Summa Summarum . . . Highest of the High! Dances This year the Elmwood social season was highlighted by three dances. This is— your roving reporter, at large in . . . House Dmce: The Elmwood house dance was held in November. Taffeta was the gen- eral costume for the girls. Besides the various dances and interestingly impractical prizes, delicious refreshments were served and except for a minor ice cream hassle which cleared up, the year was off to a tremendous start . . . Formal: As I stepped in the door, a whispy idea of net, perfume and exquisite hair-do floated past my bewildered eyes. I looked uncertainly around me; the nearest boy marched up and manfully swept me around the floor as we discussed the beauties of orchestras, Toby Rochester ' s, in particular. The event was the Winter Wonderlamd formal— atmosphere (below zero) was pro- vided by two large thermometers on the stage and Winter Wonderland, written in snow- balls; silver icicles hung over every door, nook and cranny. Huge records, with accompanying titles of popular tunes in the theme of Winter hung

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SAMARA 11 The Hallowe ' en Party 30th October. Dear Diary: It ' s rather late now, so I will only write a short note before I turn in. I just came back from our Hallowe ' en party. We had lots of fun. First came the grand m arch, and there was everything from an Elmwood girl to St. George and the dragon. Then we went into the dining room and (if you will excuse the expression) ate our little heads off. Then we moved our ice cream and candies back into the gym and watched the evening ' s entertain- ment. First the teachers put on three skits, Pooh and Piglet , The Seven Dwarfs , and Goldilocks and the Three Bears . These were followed by prize giving, when Mr. Toller (dressed as a beautiful lady) gave prizes. First, second and third awards were for a two-man horse, St. George and the dragon, and a porcupine. Consolation choco- late bars were given out as well. Then the lights were dimmed and a magician came on stage and performed many tricks. At last we all left, feeling very happy. That ' s all, so I am going to bed. Good-night. Arts and Crafts at Elmwood Senior Group This year the Arts and Crafts course has been very successful. Miss Maxwell has been extremely helpful and has given us many dif- ferent interests. Our first project last fall was cross-stitch- ing. Many attractive articles were made, in- cluding purses, place-mats and coasters. Leatherwork has also been very successful. Belts with intricate designs were made as well as wallets, change purses and some very nice moccasms. Felt was very popular this year. Lovely skirts of navy blue, pale blue and turquoise were made. Bags and stuffed toys ranked high in choice. Woodwork is our latest venture. Small toy animals and wooden brooches were made. Gaily painted, they were really attractive. Drawing was done by all grades to suit the season. A three dimensional project was enthusiastically received. The Red Cross Poster Contest was won by one of the girls. The kindergarten made little paper angels which were very popular. Altogether, it has been a very successful year. Junior Group This year Miss Maxwell taught us Arts and Crafts. We painted a few pictures such as Indian heads, dog and fox heads, horse heads, as well as Easter, Valentine and Christ- mas pictures. We also did some modern art and some finger painting. In crafts we did clay modeling, wove baskets, did cross-stitch, and made gimp bracelets. On Friday after- noons we had Hobby in which we made leather objects, such as belts, wallets, change purses, and book covers. We also made two

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SAMARA 13 about the walls. Painted on them were most graphic pictures. The climax of the evening came when the multi-coloured balloons came down. I broke sixteen, not bad for a novice. Square Dance: Shrieks of laughter and the gay, lilting screams of the junior intermediates greeted, or rather assailed, our ears as we entered the gaily decorated barn— I mean, hall —to join in the general festivity of a square dance: The square dance. This year the girls decorated the hall so that it looked like a western hoe-down. The music of Frank Holt helped make the square dance a great success. Life has been very gay generally and we ' d all hke to thank Jennifer Woollcombe and the girls who helped arrange these dances for a terrific time. Ballet Notes The members of the junior ballet class (transition and forms one, two and three) were extremely enthusiastic this year to be- come prima-ballerinas of the future; and under the able direction of Mrs. Duncan-Smith, for- merly of Ballet Legat, England, some may have their names in lights yet. Throughout the last two terms there has been a great deal of strenuous work put forth, and all are progressing very well. There may be another Pavlova yet— who knows? Unfortunately, there have been no senior ballet classes since September, but Sheila Mc- Cormick, who took lessons down town, is to be congratulated on passing her elementary exam. The Golden Rule Club Every Thursday, thirty-four old members and eighteen new assemble in the gym for the meeting of the Golden Rule Club. We start the meeting by singing O Canada . Mean- while the Treasurer collects a penny from each girl. Mrs. McAuley, who supervises the club, takes this money to the bank and later it will go to support a little boy by the name of Alderico Zanirati. Before Christmas we supported an Italian girl, Mira Maroquerra, and a French girl, Marie-Therese Gilly. We have collected $54.00 this year. To help collect this money we had a candy sale at which we collected $20.00. Each week the programme is put on by one of the forms belonging to the club. Every new term we vote for a President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer. The President ad- dresses the meeting, holds the meeting and adjourns it. The Vice-President does likewise if the President is absent. The Secretary calls the roll, and reads and writes the minutes. The Treasurer collects the money. We adjourn the meeting by singing God Save the Queen . What adds to the fun we have in the meet- ings we hold and the money we give is the fact that we know that we are helping some- one else. Free Day Free Day dawned on January 29, a school day, to be sure, but one with a difference. This was the day when every girl was free to choose her own time-table (as long as it in- cluded something besides gym and games) and the officers took over the school. This annual event was, as usual, looked forward to eagerly and everyone had a wonderful time learning such weird and wonderful things as Chinese and Russian (thanks to Mrs. Graham and Madame). Another interesting event was the dinner menu, picked out by the seniors. A wonder- ful day was climaxed by the formal dance.