Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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THE VOYAGE UR 5? fm 5, f fflflgeir Qgrzzriuus ,gflliajesiies King fgenrge VI. zrnh Queen Zilizzxhetlq '77 I-A-1

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THE X'UY.MZEL'R 1 l W, Y, ,W , MISS ESTHER ROGERS T is XVITH A DEEP SENSE or Loss that we record the death of Miss Esther Rogers at St. Petersburg, Florida, on April 27th last. She was a daughter of the late Samuel Rogers. It was due largely to her fathers efforts that the old school at Pickering was erected and her sister, Mrs. W. P. Firth, who survives her, was lady principal of Pickering College in its cofeducational days. Since the reopening of the school in 1927 she has been a quiet but enthusiastic supporter and it is only now that she has passed on that we are at liberty to disclose that many deserving boys have been enabled to enjoy the privileges of school by reason of her financial assistance. A substantial contribution to the school in 1937 enabled the Board to install the electric refrigeration system and to make other much needed addif tions to our equipment. In her will she has given a real and tangible expresion of her deep interest in our work and a generous bequest which she has made will be of great benefit to the school. Those of us who had the privilege of knowing her. will always remember her, not for what she did, but for what she was, a quiet sincere Quaker lady always ready to help those less fortunate than herself. 21

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THE VOYAGE UR Education For What ? by Jtlsvph lyltiflllllly. ILA. fflxonj Headmaster fReprinted from the Canadian Bookman, AprilfMay, l939.j URING THE CLOSING YEARS of the great war there was founded in England an organization known as The New Education Fellowship. The objecf tive of the founders was to bring together in an international organization all those who were interested in educational improvement and reform throughf out the world so that every individual-whatever his nationality, race, status or religion-should be educated under conditions which allowed the full and harmonious development of his own personality, and led to his realizing and fulfilling his responsibility to the Community. The founders of the New Education Fellowship were convinced that one of the most effective ways of avoiding another international war was by the improvement of educational practices and techniques throughout the world. The emphasis of the sofcalled new education was on human personality and its values. It advocated no specific educational panacea but it did insist on maintaining an international outlook. Sections and groups were formed in practically every part of the world. Educational magazines were published in a variety of -languages, and most significant, gatherings of educators met in a series of world and regional conferences organized on an international basis. Many of the particular reforms advocated by members have become current educational practice. Altogether it looked at one time as if the dream of the founders might become a reality and that education might in very truth be one of the major forces in the construction of a new world. Disillusionment, however, has set in. Educational leaders in all parts of the world are less confident about the success of their efforts. In some countries the N.E.F. and affiliated organizations, along with every other type of voluntary association, and proscribed. It seems almost that the height of -cynicism has been reached. The last issue of the New Era fthe official publif cation of the organization in England, is given over to a series of articles under the general heading Air Raid Precautions for Children. The editor comments: We make no apology for the matter and manner of this number of the magazine. The protection of children in time of war must, obviously, be planned scientifically, lovingly and in the fullest detail. Cur hope that such plans can then be pigeonholed does not absolve us from the duty of making them. Thus vanishes the roseate dream of the early twenties. 'What has happened to the N.E.F. in England is symptomatic of what is happening to liberal educational thinkers the world over. A few years ago it could be imagined that the dreams of educational reform were within sight of realizationg tofday the voices of educational liberals, as well as liberal thinkers in all other areas of human thought and activity, are drowned by the clamant shouts of demagogues of all kinds, advocating their own particular remedies 23