Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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a personal word to the students ERE IS OUR RECORD of the past school year. Of course it does not report on the individual progress achieved or relate the private struggle and growth towards those things each one of us strives for in his own heart. But it well reflects our life together as a community, those activities where we joined as a group to achieve a common purpose, whether it be as members of a team, of a corridor, of the cast of Macbeth or Pinafore, on the school committee or in a discussion club. In looking back on our year, as you thumb through these pages, it is my hope that you, as an individual, may recall a contribution, great or small, that you made to our school, either as a good leader or as a good follower. If so, you have the privilege of believ- ing, with humility, that Pickering College is a better place because you were with us. It is my hope that our year has given you an insight into the faith of our founders, The Society of Friends, and their basic belief in Hthat of Cod in every manf' Their stress on the importance of the individual is ex- pressed this way by Kahlil Gibran: 'iNo man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge. Our Voyageur, therefore, is a record of people doing things together. If they do so with skill and devotion, they meet the kind of success which results from thoughtful guidance on the one hand and spirited co-operation on the other. ls not this combination the corner-stone of a good school, a good com- munity, a good country? Since this is a personal word, I may say that I believe that such guidance exists here at Pickering. If our opportunities are to be fulfilled, then, they depend on the co-operation of all of us. ln other words, the development of a good school is based on our allegiance to a com- mon ideal which transcends self-centered motives. It follows that any success we have achieved this year as a group was derived from the co-operation of in- dividuals. The responsibility of the individual must therefore be the fulfilment of himself, the development of his mind and body and spirit, so that he may give of his best to those around him. l wish we could all understand that this is the reason for the existence of our school, and the only one, for everything else springs from it. If so, we shall understand how and why the good things recorded in these pages found their being. My thanks to all of you who during the past year have helped to build Wlihe beloved cornmunityl' on our hill-top. Sei en

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ix THE HEADMASTUQ

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the Pickering year HE PAST YEAR has left us many things to be proud of. In the first term victories on the field and on the stage were evident with the Senior Football team win- ning the C.O.S.S.A. championship for the third straight year, and the dramatics club scoring a success with its production of Macbeth. In the second term we can remem- ber the Glee Club's production of H.lVl.S. Pinaforen noting especially the job done by the leads. In the last term the Senior Relay Team and the efforts put into the formal dance were of a high calibre. These were some of the extra-curricular highlights. There are probably more but in these highlights what we see is evidence of team work. In each case if one man failed to do his part then the whole effect would have been ruined. However it seems that one of the lessons we have learned this year is that at times team work was not evident. It is hoped that those students in Grade twelve who are returning saw the lack of team work and can try to find a solution where we have failed at times this year. We should at all times be conscious of the fact that here at Pickering we are living as a Family',. This may sound like a grossly over used cliche, but whether it is or not the fact remains it is true. If we want to enjoy our stay at Pickering then we have to get out and make it better. By this We do not mean that you should sacrifice your individualityg rather you should use your in- dividuality to give a lead and apply it to life at school in order to make it a better place. There were many people who had constructive criticisms but for some reason unknown to us did not want to bring them forward. Instead, these criticisms crept along in the Lafter lights out' bull sessions like rats in the slums of a city. This allowed the criticism to become warped and consequently the school suffered. From this it would seem that after a good start in September everything went stale. Happily this did not happen. ln the last term by the probing of the School Committee and other Seniors the students began to bring out their 'gbeefsn to the betterment of the school. It appeared that perhaps finally we saw that the best Way to make our life better was for all of us to pitch in, and do something constructive. Thus, we have left evidence that as your life is only what you make it, your school is only what you make it too. Pickering can give you a 'lot but you have to get out and help in return. The lesson that we have learned this year is best expressed by the words No man is an island entire of himselff, -CHARLEs BEER Eight