Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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HARRY M. BEER, B.A HEADMASTER

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a personal word N 'run izxsrlxo luxoics yol' wim. FIND a reflection in brief of our many activities -- during the past year. In my opinion it was a good year and I therefore wish to take this opportunity to thank all of you, both staff and students, for making it as full and vital as it was. There were times when I felt Cas you probably did tooll that fewer activities might have provided a calmer, less hectic, life together. But such is not the stuff for youth or for growth. And so there came the endless round of daily routine-classes, games, evening study, club meetings and human intercourse: preparation for the ever-present special event-new boys' day, hallowe'en, visitors' day, dramatic and glee club pre- sentations, banquets and closing ceremonies, together with all the crises, minor and major, that are bound to accompany the association of one hundred and fifty human beings in their common life to0'ether. H D At the conclusion of the year, it is my sincere wish that you have all learned something from such a rich and varied challenge, including as it must both success and failure. In that event, you may conclude that it was for you, too, a good year and continue to build a life of usefulness and purpose on the knowledge so gained. Une basic aim knits together the many single threads of our life at Pickering and that is to build a beloved community founded on the teachings of Jesus,- a community wherein each individual may reach his full potential, irrespective of ability, creed or race. We think of discipline therefore as the educational process by which our students are led to independent self-discipline. In this process human mistakes inevitably appear more obviously than in a system where automatic conformity is demanded. Educators at Pickering must there- fore resist the temptation to condemn our philosophy of education whenever a student makes a mistake in judgment, as he is bound to do during the period of growth towards maturity. Not only must we help the student gain insight into the factors promoting a bad decision. but we must bend every effort to help him gain confidence in his better judgment. lf you as students during the past year have experienced the great satisfac- lion derived from facing your responsibilities to the best of your ability, not only in the field of academics but also in that of human relations, then Pickering tlollege has taught you well. lf at the same time you understand that a refusal to accept responsibility will mean the withdrawal of privilege, then you have successfully grasped the realities of a life situation. To achieve such a state requires spiritual as well as mental stamina and 11 is only through such spiritual strength and growth that we may reach our lngh standards and thus train young men for lives of service. May Pickering l ' l a ways remain dedicated to this ideal. -HARRY M. Bam: Six

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editorial LL THE woRL.D's .x srlxon, and all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances: and one man in his time plays many parts. To some extent all of us have played parts at Pickering this year. Some of us have played them better than others because of special qualities that we possess, but all have contributed in some way to the success of the play. The School Code provided us with our script and, although we never seemed to get our lines perfect because of natural human failings, the constant striving for perfection was the most important aspect of the school year. Those of us who are leaving the ivy-covered walls this year, may not realize the true value of all that we have learned, not specifically academically but rather, socially. This last statement may seem strange to some. should they think they came to Pickering for academic reasons only, but we have to live in harmony with other people whether we are educated or not and that is as much a part of the Pickering system as academic subjects are. At a certain camp for boys operated by the Department of Education of Ontario they advocate that each boy take a little bit of the camp with him when he goes. This does not reter to anything tangible but something that he has gained from his experiences there. This is a beautiful thought and it is to be hoped that some of us leaving Pickering this year have a little bit of Pickering with us. Living for a time in this melting pot of society we are exposed to the many facets of human character and it is inevitable that we should benefit from this by certain changes in our own character during these our plastic vears . Some people gauge a year at Pickering by the number of corridor raids they took part in. This year we have had a few corridor raids but in looking hack are there not many other highlights that provided as much fun and from which you gained something ot' more value than could be supplied by a corridor raid? lt was a good year. much progress was made in many of the areas of our way of lite at Pickering and, as Mr. Stewart so aptly put it in a chapel address, it was truly an experience of life . Eight