Essex District High School - Argus Yearbook (Essex, Ontario Canada)

Page 12 text:

As we leave to-night we dare not hope to accomplish the spectacular. We ask only God ' s Blessing to help us to live each day to its fullest extent as He would have us do. With this thought firmly embedded in our minds may we, the graduates of 1956, and those students who are destined to become the graduates of the future, go forward steadfast in our desire to strive, to seek, to find and not to yield . OUR GRADUATES GRADE 13: Barbara Ann 3rooker, Elizabeth Jean Chambers, James Emerson Forden, Ronald Arthur Greaves, Marjorie Mae Hill, Shirley Mae Hyatt, Malcolm Alfred MacRae, Jacqueline Gail McLeod, John Howard McPherson, George Alexander McRae, Hugh Wm. Allison Nelson, Christine Olive Parke, Marianne Elizabeth Renaud , James Paul Robinson, Robert David Vanstone, Jack durton VIcary, Shirley Elizabeth Wallace, Carolyn Marie Zoern. GRADE 12: John Andrew Armstrong, Merle Wesley Bridgen, John Cichon, Frank Ray- Danckaert, Gordon Irvine Geddes, Mary Ellen Gilbert, Merle Ann Hardy, Marion Ruth Keane, William Charles Kerr, William David Lord, Emil Steve Matis, William James Moody, Doris Elaine Mulcaster, Carol Ann Myers, Patricia Pearl Newman, Erlan Albert O ' Neil, Joseph Edward O ' Neil, Howard Edmund Parker, Marilyn Ann Patterson, Robert Thomas Pettypiece, Edward Gerald Robinson, Eleanor Helen Santo, Betty Ann Scarlet, Dorothy Margaret Shewan, James Edward Shewan, Lawrence Edwin Wales, Keith Melvin Wall, Arthur George Wass, Gary Leroy Wilson, Helen Marie Wright. SPECIAL COMMERCIAL: Gloria Loretta Bachmeier, James Arthur Brooker, Carol Ann Carder, Laura Inez Collard, Helen Elaine Duncan, Cary Alcide Garant, Constance Catherine Henderson, Helen Hudak, Mary Izgherian, Theodore Joseph Kwaitkowski, Deanna Mae Labadie, Elizabeth Barbara Mohr, Hideko Nakata, Patricia Pearl Newman, Jeannette Louisa Seabourne, Donnalee Jean Stephens, Andy Leslie Ujj, Ruth Ann Van Lith, Shirlie Ann Vivier.

Page 11 text:

T r, Crane honoured guests, fellow graduates, ladies and gentlemen. To-night marks an important milestone in the lives of the 1 £6 gradu¬ ates of Is sex District Tigh School. ' That whiub once seemed a dim star on s distant horizon has been transformed into a reality. When we en- te ' ■ d hi ' h school we were alarmed by the size of this building, the number of teachers and students, end the different procedures to w ' cich. we her to become, accustomed. After five years ' sojourn he i, e e.ach room b- arc Pleasent and familiar memories. The boys and iris who were at one time complete strangers arc now our closest companions and the teachers, our friends. These recollections laipart a tin e of sadness to the joyous feelings which we experience u-on obtainin ' our graduation d i olorpas. Cn behalf of the. gradua l, in class I should 1: : e .to express our ' rati t’de -to everyone who has contributed to ma e this a successful I even ; n . To %». Arison who has yen ' is time to address us uoon this occasion, we say a very special thank-you. o our parents and teacher?! who have patiently borne with us the pains and pleasures of our high school pears, we render our heart-fel.t appreciation. everai oi the ■raduetes have already be un to prepare for their chosen vocation and within a few short wee c most of us will have ventured forth, each on his se arate oath, Whe fcher- our field be that of engineering, nursTn or teaching, we hone that we shall always be a credit to t ' -ose who have showed such a vital interest in our future. Although we have completed our secondary school training ' , to assess; accurately the value derived from it would be a tremendous task. To sy. that we have studied French, English, mathematics or science for five yearn would be a very superf icial interpretation of it. Who is able to evaluate the influence of the aily occurrences and contacts whic 1 - . though scarcely perceptibly have left an indelible impression ’ non us? Our hardest lessons were not those which we learned from textbooks but from, experience. Our mistakes which resulted from a trial and error method of decision are still, vivid but with the guidance and ne -sonal interest of the teachers, we have gradually learned toadont an adult approach to our roblems. • The athletic and social aspects of hioh schol life cannot he over¬ emphasized. In the course of Track and . ' ield meets and tense b-.sketba! II games we learned that even the efforts of our classmates were not slwr yc sufficient to secure victor;: for 2asex. D rcb?blv one of our most valu¬ able lessons was to learn to rse disappointment end defeat as a sou.’ to greater och ' eveme ts. The various or snizations a for ’ed us an ooportun ity ' to express our own ideas and to reaso 1 ' intell’ gentlv. The student dances throughout the years have inspired us with confidence and with a desire to meet and to associate with others. T e concerts ore sente 4 by j the Band and Glee Club have helped to instil in us e love for culture. As ws cause in retrospect we realize that each ‘base of Mgh aChopi wsn designed to fulfil one main object ' ve the development of the complete individual . To-day we have left behind our childhood and are entering i :.to e world of adults. Ve are faced with the Problem of using our lives not merely for our own advantage but for the service of others. In a use¬ ful career one is certain to f und satisfaction and tr i: e hap- ness. Our study cf world conditions has revealed to us the diversities which cre¬ ate discord between nations and eventually result in world strife. Compared with such enormous Problems one ' s personal trials and tribula¬ tions will always be insignificant.

Page 13 text:

Modern science has endowed mankind with countless reminders of how . ach life ' s necessities and luxuries cost. We live in an era of cash registers, adding machines and finance companies; our dail’; newspapers remind us constantly of the rising cost of living. We are told so frequently about the price of everything, that we often forget the many things we get for nothing. One has only to gaze into nature ' s boundless realm to find in¬ numerable free gifts. We all enjoy the glorious, dazzling colours of a sunrise. In contrast to this, what is more restful than peaceful, silvery moonlight? We pay nothing for the ethereal beauty of a rainbow, or the delicate design of a snowflake. Flowers are another free gift of nature; there are flowers of all descriptions ranging from a small, blood-red rose to a giant, white chrysanthemum. In forests, one finds rlants of all sizes--tiny plants like the delicate fern and tall trees like the oak. All the e gifts of nature are free for the person who stops to look. Life ' s freest and mo t precious gifts cannot be seen by the naked eye. There is no price for which one. can buy true happiness and con¬ tentment. The faith and trust that one vuman being places in another cannot be purchased for any monetary price. No one can make us pay for our dreams, and no one can make us pay for our prayers to the most powerful existing Authority. Many reorle consider love the ultimate joy of life. Love is free; not only the love of ' one man towards another, but the supreme love of God for humanity. All human beings, whether they are as rich as millionaires, or as oor as church mice, can love and be loved. Many things in our modern life cost a great deal, but let us not forget that the beauty of nature ' s multitudinous forms like the sunset or a rose; the joys of love and hope cannot be purchased with the British pound sterling, the Italian lira or the German marks. . Is it not marvellous that for these precious gifts we pay nothing? Peter Burrell 12CD THE IDB L SCHOOL Education has been defined as the process by which a person devel¬ ops his abilities, attitudes, and general behaviour toward society. From the time of the rigidly regimented educational system of the Spartans to the Oxford university system by wnich the student learns mostly by himself, society never has, does not now, and never will, leave the education of an individual to chance. Instead, the individual is placed in a controlled environment, in which e learns, through com¬ petent guidance and continuous effort, how to meet effectively experien¬ ces and problems in life. This environment is what we know as the School. L