Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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THE, VOYAGEUR EDITOIQIAI. s MR. CHARLES SAID IN CHAPEL ONE NIGHT, Pickering is your house by the side of the roadf' The years we have spent here, for many of us, have been our happiest. The sharp corners have been slowly rounded. Our learning has not been only academic for that is not the only purpose for which Pickering has been established. The group of boys who are here have come from all parts of Canada and the United States. They have learned to work together and in many cases have become fast friends-bonds that will never be broken. From our house by the side of the road we have seen the world, as if on review, go by. Many boys who are leaving would like to remain in such a place as Pickering and avoid the sordid way of life. If they did this they would remain only boys and never become men. The years, the friendly years, we have spent at our second home have passed too quickly. Friendships and experiences are the beautiful things of life that are never forgotten. Pickering has left us many memories that are indelibly imprinted on our minds. That etching, after this year, will be Pickering and shall never be forgotten. ' R. J. STROUSE N oNE MANNER OF SPEAKING a boys' school is, after all, like a factory and the students form the raw material. One need go but a little further with this outworn analogy to place the old boys as the finished product. The whole business, of course, holds good and is applied in this way, item, enter the new boy or raw material, item, several years of subjecting the student to various processes, item, the graduate or finished product is thrust forth into the world market where he assumes a certain value according to his merits. This is all very well but it may be sadly misunderstood. In the first place there are those who will apply this analogy too closely, take the image too literally. The result is that the whole responsibility for the degree of success with which the boy meets in the world is thrust upon his school. If he is a rotter, the school must be poor, if he is a brilliant success, the school must be a first class place. Then there are those who commit a second type of mis' understanding. They are inclined to believe that a boy will be what nature made him no matter where he gets his education. To them the school is merely a place where he spends a few years picking up the elements of readin', writing and 'rithmetic. The truth lies somewhere between these two views and may be the easier located by a consideration of the meaning of craftsmanship. Here the analogy 18

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THE VOYAUEUR A Personal Word NE OF THE MOST AMAZING THINGS about life is life itself, with its perf sistent and inherent will to perpetuate itself. The tiny rootlet of the growing plant carries within itself strength to overcome almost any ref stricting bonds. Seed grain found in the tombs of longfforgotten Pharaohs is still capable of growth. In spite of the destruction that is waged upon each other by the various species of lower animals, life 'goes on. In the course of human history mankind has been exposed to the ravages of plague, famine, war and natural calamity of all kindsg but still the human race survives. Nature in all its forms seems capable of almost any adjustment so long as the main object is served,-that life itself may be continued. War and war's alarms have occupied much of our thinking during the past year, conflicts of ideologies-political, racial and economic-have brought in their wake human misery and suffering of a sort almost unprecedented in the world's history. All the peoples of the world,-except perhaps those who are too backward to be touched by the forces that move the more civilized -are living in daily fear of the outbreak of another world war. Security for young and old, anywhere on the globe, seems to be practically nonfexistent. It is imperative, therefore, that at the present moment in human hisf tory the educator should recognize, not merely the vitality of life itself but the equal vitality of those qualities and values which contribute to make the human animal a civilized being. An outstanding American educator has recently said that It is almost literally 'now or never' with education in America. We may, indeed, be too late to make the changes that will have to be made if anything is to be done to save the day for the kind of decent human life we mean by democracy, not only in America but everywhere. Under such conditions, the only possible attitude that free men can adopt, consistent with the dictates of conscience and intelligence, is to assert afresh on every possible occasion and with 'all possible strength the gospel in which we believe. Human rights are paramount values, human personality is an end in itself g honesty, justice and fairfdealing are not only the basis of true religion but of a sound economy and of wholesome politics. As far as Pickering College is concerned, it is an abiding faith in these principles that has actuated, and will continue to motivate, its work. All the activities-academic, athletic, social and religious should evidence this purf pose. It is my very sincere hope that, at least in a small way, we may make some contribution to the realization of these values in human affairs. I trust that the following pages, the record of another year of varying activity, may reveal something of this spirit and purpose. To all those who have conf tributed in any way to this record of achievement, and particularly to those who are responsible for its presentation in the form of our annual year book, is extended my deep personal thanks. That the days to come, whether they be bright or fair, will provide opporf tunity for further service is the constant hope of your Headmaster, 0-4. 17

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THE VUY.MlfiUR 159 -iff 5. wi' jffilglt . .jfit 1 . n Voyageufr Staff Henderson, Williams, Bowser fAdvert1'singj. Charters fPl1otograpl1yj, Mr. McCulley, Mr. Perry fStaff Editorl. Strouse fAtl1letz'c Editorj, Rudy Renzius fArtj, Buchanan flnterary Editorj. of the school and the factory may he again applied. This time however we will keep the matter of craftsmanship in mind and thus attempt to correct the two errors in interpretation to which the idea is suhject. A furniture factory may take wood to huild tables. To the workmen it is all wood, nothing more and nothing less. They saw and hammer and polish and paint. The result is a row of tables not one of which differs one whit in appearance from any other. Yet one tahle may last ten months, an' other only two. Une table may hreak a leg, another split down the middle. The difference depends on where the flaws were in the wood. The workmen had ignored them as well as they had ignored where the special strength of any single piece lay. There is the other type of factory. Here the raw material is studied and tested. The piece of wood that will make a tahle top hecomes a tahle top. Another piece, after the flaws are removed, seems Ht only for a hrace: hut 19