Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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The Voyageur That the foregoing ideas derive from a philosophy of education capable of successful practical application is demonstrated by the progress of the school during the past fifteen years. The enrolment of about one hundred and twenty-seven students in 1941-342 is double the number of upioneersv registered in the autumn of 1927. After four years of operation, the build- ing appropriately known as Firth House was constructed, originally intended for younger boys in the lower high school grades, now the home of the flourishing new Preparatory Department. The corner-stone of Firth House was laid by Sir William Mulock, longstanding friend and regular visitor, who had performed the same ceremony a quarter of a century before when the main school was built. This growth has been matched and must in part be explained by a continuously improving academic standardg in 1941, for example, ninety percent of all honour matriculation papers written by students of the school were passed, sixty-seven percent with first and second class honours. Pickering College to-day, in spite of war and the far-reaching effects of war, is conscious of its strength and optimistic of its future. lt represents the achievement not only of those industrious and idealistic men and women who have worked in its classrooms and ofiices through the years, but also of those loyal and interested members of the College Board, who in a very real sense have Hmade everything possiblef, Dr. Dorland has demonstrated in his paper ua certain continuity both in fthe? theory and practicev of the school for the past hundred years. Of equal interest is the part played by the Rogers family for the last sixty years in the development of the school. It will suffice to note that the present Chairman and Treasurer of the school. lt will suffice to note that the present Chairman and Treasurer of the Board, Samuel Rogers, K.C., is the grandson of that Mr. Samuel Rogers whose name we have noted in connection with the first Pickering College and its re-opening in 1891. This continuity of personnel has doubt- less helped to keep unbroken the continuity of philosophy mentioned, and has been of inestimable value. A remark current in the school this past term has been, '6We,re through the first hundred years,', and history justifies the implication. No better conclusion to these notes could be found than the school motto: Bene provisa principia ponantur. MA new soul wakes with each awakened year. The valiant soul is still the same, the sarne The strength, the art, the inevitable grace. The thirst unquenched for fame . . . The long obedience, and the knightly flame Of loyalty to honour and a name. --SANTAYANA 21

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The Voyageur lVlr. lVIcCulley, of Old Country birth and Canadian convictions, has been described as Hpredominantly non-conformist and eclectic in his religious and educational philosophyf, This may be interpreted to mean that he is a keenly aware person, alive to and eager to apply the best in any system of ideas or practices. At one time a theological student at Wyeliffe College, a graduate of the University of Toronto and the Ontario College of Edu- cation, and holding the Oxford degree of MA., a synthesis of his knowledge and ideas might be said to be achieved by his inspiring respect for and faith in the personality and potentialities of human beings, especially young' human beings. This attitude towards people is basic in Quakerism, and at the same time finds place in the theories of the Nprogressivev educators of to-day. Similarly, we had early occasion to note the Quaker emphasis on the practical in education, this is nothing more nor less than the educa- tion for lifew which is an expressed ideal of the modern Pickering College. Again, it will be recalled that there was little formal religious instruction in the early Quaker school, but that religion was traditionally regarded as an inward experience showing itself by a way of life, to-day at Pickering College the democratic way of life is studied, and the attempt is constantly made to instil into the members of the school group a sense of belonging to a co-operative community, the essentially Christian basis of this concept and all the spiritual values inherent in it are brought out by the regular Sunday evening chapel services offered by the Headmaster, members of the staff, or friends of the school. ' The continuity of theory and practice through the last hundred years is apparent also in less general ways. The activities on the farm and grounds and in the workshop of the present school would gladden the heart of Joseph John Gurney, with his belief in the dignity and usefulness of manual labour. Physical exercise is still thought to be of fundamental importance, almost without exception every student participates in a year-round athletic program which emphasizes the development of lasting skills and the value of team-work. The facilities for amental recreationi' fin the phrase of '79l, with its attendant broadening of the student's cultural experience and its enriching of classroom studies, are numerous, and best revealed by the current 4'Voyageur,, with its accounts of the place occupied in the school by music and drama, the creative arts, and interest clubs of various kinds. There is the absence in the school of superimposed, unexplained author- ity, and of artificial deference from student to master. Mr. lVlcCulley has said on occasion that 'cteaehing is relationshipv, that is, the personality of the teacher must attract or interest the student to produce the most valuable and lasting exchange of ideas between the two. Thus, the Headmaster and staff endeavour to meet the students on the basis of friendship, and such respect as is due the older from the young is genuine and knowledgeable. Once a friendly relationship has been established, as is the way of friends the world over, the student in many situations may naturally address his teacher-friend by his first name. To correct a common misapprehension, it is perhaps not out of order to emphasize that the classroom, or any formal or official school meeting, does not present a situation in which this practice is acceptable. 20

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The Voyageur is 8 SWE SQ Setting for Closing Chapel Serzrice, june 7th, 1942. A CHAPEL T HAS BECOME CUSTOMARY that each member of the stay? arrange the service and give the address at one of the Sunday evening chapel services during the school year. While it is impossible to make this selection all- inclusive, the magazine is proua' to print here signibhcant selections fro-nt some of these services. ICKERING DAYS are busy days. Our lives are full of crowding and bustle and hurry. It is easy for us to let important experiences be crowded out by non-essentials. It is easy for us to miss great opportunities, to lose sight of Christ in the crowd. ' All those who would achieve must be workers. I do not mean necessar- ily the super-workers like Edisong but the great host of average men who have done the Worldls work throughout the agesg men who when faced with a task could clear the decks of unimportant things and get the job done. A At the recent Queenls centenary, many great men of our time were honoured, and as l watched them march to the platform to be laureated' I saw the determined faces of men who knew how to work when work had to be done. l wish that l could impress upon all of you tonight that Pickering offers you an opportunity to work, and that you must not let that chance be jostled out of your lives by a crowd of trivialities. It is necessary that each one of us learns to do a job. What you do it on doesn't much matter, so long as you do it on some worthy task. 44There Being a Crea! Crowd in the Place. ' R. E. K. ROURKE. T FIRST GLANCE, the purpose of a school is education. By education., I do not understand merely the accumulation of facts and a little practice in the art of thinkingg education is much broader than thisg it includes 22