London Normal School - Spectrum Yearbook (London, Ontario Canada)

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Literary - - Poetry Canada Blessed art thou, O Canada, above all lands. Touched by thin sorrows like a banker ' s son Thou sheddest thy adolescence at thy leisure, Safe in the knowledge of abundant coffers. No edge of want shall sharpen thy per- ception Nor drive thy manhood far beyond the flesh Into vague aeons of intangibles. Dispersed art thou, O Canada, between the seas. Thy anchors rest in bedrooms and in kitchens. Intimidated by the vastness of thy skies. Thou fixest things instead of planting gar- dens And dost thy dreaming in a bowling alley. Thou movest from one place onto another On Sundays or whenever the lease is up. Happy art thou, O Canada, in thine own way. Well fed thy children, and thy old folk pensioned. Thy women call the price of butter a cauchemar And thy men lose but rarely more than money. Thou sendest brains abroad to do thee homage And those thou keepest at home are rarely heard, And when they speak thou dost not seem convinced. M. D. FRISCH, Form 4. Soliloquy Can He who made the tiny rose, Gave its petals the softest shades, Fashioned the leaf, painted the hill, Made a flower that blossoms and fades; Can He be the one that allows on our world Destruction, famine and greed? Can He ignore our sufferings? Be not aware of our need? Yet it seems a human weakness Blaming some other soul. When God gave the world to man Perfection was His goal; And only because of the lust of mankind Has this world begun to decay, And because of man ' s desire for power, Have our morals been lowered to-day. Thus when the world weeps with wars Just remember, and bear in mind, That ten written laws have been laid down By a greater power behind; And if we will only follow them, As each step of life is trod. Can we learn of true peace on earth, And fulfil our faith in God. JACKIE COULTHARD, Form 4. The Reward When you can stand with the sinking sun, Not hating yourself for the things you ' ve done; When you can find one friend that ' s true, That passes the test when time is due; When you can be honest though others may cheat, Losing the game, accept defeat; When you can love though others despise, Be judged and yet not criticize; Then your lowly path of life may be trod, With love and happiness and nearness to God. JACKIE COULTHARD, Form 4.

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Literary Thirty -Eight Minu Our timetable says Climb those stairs! Up, up, climb twenty score, To Conover ' s Arctic Circle, Get a move on, there, Form Four! We arrive. Margie sits and shivers. Slowly Donna opens her book; Verna hands teacher the absentee slip, Eleanor gives John the look . Marilyn starts writing a letter, Mr. Watt— he ' ll just think; Bernice and Carolyn catch up on news. And Jackie goes looking for ink. Miss Coveney just loves to doodle, Miss Cross finds no time to shirk; Mr. Stewart starts voicing his opinion, While Mary Ann begins her handwork. We lose Whitney and Walker, When talking they are caught; And Mr. Roberts gives a lecture. On what University taught. Arnold just sits and listens, Milly tries to smother a yawn; There ' s too much noise in this room! And soon Miss Foster has gone. Paul dreams in silent meditation, Graham reflects days at the U , Eileen and Miss Davis pay attention, Stan wishes the period were through. ? with Form IV Marg gives a shudder when thinking. How Bill scared her with a pig ' s eye; Mr. Palmer prompts teacher ' s spelling, Doran ' s jokes make time fly by. Langford and Lewis hold converse, Wood and Workman chat too; Mr. Zativz answers Mr. Robertson, Ron and Goldie have nothing to do. Miss Dawson and the Demaiters, Dorothy, Marilyn and Miss Gray, Find something to keep them busy. Learning manners of today. This period will never end, Think Doug and Ian and Don; Of basketball Mr. Moir dreams, And slowly time goes on. Mr. Stanley answers a question, From Mr. Morgan we hear no peep; And where is Mr. Wortley? Why in the corner, half asleep! Then through the cold and the stillness, The bell sounds like a roar; So, come along, my children, Move on with our Form Four! JACKIE COULTHARD, Form 4. Undecided I beg you all to listen, Please just listen to me! I ' ve asked myself so many times Is it a teacher I want to be? The answer seems beyond me. But yet I do not know What other field would give me A more substantial goal. There is a lot of work involved, But work, as it may be, It really isn ' t quite so bad As most of us will see. Teaching has its pleasures, I ' ve often heard it said. For laughter from the children Around the room is spread. With greetings every morning From children sweet and clean. It starts the day off right With an atmosphere that ' s keen. I hear there is no boredom As each day rolls along; Life ' s little human natures Fill your heart with song. And as the long day closes You ' re thinking of your bed; But then you must remember There ' s a meeting just ahead. The duties of a teacher Are not all to be read, For not all duties are from books But from the heart instead. Thus as I sit and contemplate What the future holds for me, I guess I ' m really fortunate That I am a teacher-to-be. NANCY NEILL, Form 5. Reflections from 7 54 As time goes by, someday we ' ll say, Remember College? That first day? The first time we had to teach, Practicing what masters preach? Those late hours when we felt beat, Finding material that was concrete; Making up lessons — what a task, Trying to figure what pupils would ask. Remember periods when we ' d sit Debating whether to stay or quit? Reading assignments getting us down, We just wanted to skip town. How in music these words would ring, Diaphragms up; one, two, class sing! If your pitch does not ring true, Watch my hand, I ' ll help you. That rural week when it did snow, Blocking roads so we couldn ' t go. To teach in the country and have fun Working seven grades while teaching one! The visits we took, the friends we made, The fun we had, the games we played; The cheers we yelled, the songs we sang, ' Til voices were hoarse and rafters rang. Thus someday when we ' re old and gray. With superannuation on its way, We ' ll reflect on this — fun by the score, We graduates of ' 54. JACKIE COULTHARD, Form 4.

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Literary Have You Heard About Us ? Well-1-1 . . . Laughing girls and boys with little toys Form I, please stop that noise . This we hear from morn ' til night, We never seem to do things right. Soon there ' s bound to be a showdown. First I ' ll give you all the low-down. Eleanor in study is always nappin ' Jean is always there a ' laughin ' . Helen Clare, who is so dark and short. Like Aletha is a lively sort. Harvey is on the winning team, And Lloyd (of course) is quite a scream. Charlaine is always dressed so neat, And Bruce is always on the beat. We have in our class a boy with force, That ' s Jim, clown of the class of course. Willa and Jean cannot be parted While Brian needs help to get started. Ruth, yes, she is quite a scholar And Alma outshines all by wearing a collar. Mrs. Harrington makes us see all green, She ' s the smartest, it would seem. Last there ' s Miss Emery (who likes our Maws), Often gives her hums and haws . This is the end of our rhythm and rhyme. But don ' t you agree, Form I is just fine. Teachers ' Christian Fellowship (T.C.F.) ThE T.C.F. of 1953 and 1954 had forty members, and an average attendance at every meeting was about twenty-five. The meetings were composed of prayer, sing- songs, Bible study in the Book of Timothy and discussions to help young Christians learn God ' s plan for their lives and to help them lead a life worthy of the name Christian. This group aimed at a social evening once a month, at which they enjoyed sing- songs, games, a special speaker who brought them a message, and refreshments. Officers of T.C.F. were as follows: President — Edwin Kempling. Vice-President — Verne Harvey. Secretary-Treasurer — Aletha Buchner. On Distinguishing Your Friends From Teachers TWO-YEAR STUDENTS Most historic moment: Entering London Teachers ' College. Major activity: Writing compositions. Pet Peeve: Geography assignments. Style of dancing: Keep that music loud! Extra-curricular activity: Going steady. ONE-YEAR STUDENTS Most historic moment: Graduation. Major activity: Reading assignments. Pet Peeve: Being treated like children. Style of dancing: Keep that music soft! Extra-curricular activity: Hearing lectures from noted educationalists. GRADUATES Most historic moment: Their own class. Major activity: Marking papers. Pet Peeve: Student teachers. Style of dancing: Is the music playing? Extra-curricular activity: Attending func- tions to improve the mind. JACKIE COULTHARD, Form 4. Daffynitions Push — A force exerted on a door marked Pull . Rhumba — A fox trot with the backfield in motion. Umbrella — A shelter for one and a shower bath for two. Girdle — The difference between facts and figures. Perfect Wife — One who believes that their parrot taught her husband how to swear. Miss Conover, annoyed at clock-watching Doran, covers the face of the clock with a cardboard and on it writes: Time will pass. Will you? Mr. Dobrindt: How old would a person be who was born in 1897? Brian H. : Man or woman? Mr. O ' Neil: And how was nickel ore dis- covered? Bob C. : They smelt it. Barbara B., at the gate with her beau: Good-night. Verne H.: It was nice no-ing you.