Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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A community is much like a team and the same teamwork is required on it as in our sports. NVe must remember our community is like a. chain and is only as strong as its weakest link. Therefore, if we all do our task, whether it is being a strong leader or a faithful follower, with the best of our ability we will be like a strong team-and all of us will be on the winning team,-our community. My third point is the need of responsible citizens. A community is made up of people and before people can become a success they must become responsible, therefore, a connnunity needs responsible citizens if it is to be a success. Here one of the most important responsibilities is to master our academics. NVe do not do this only to please our teachers or parents, but for our own benefit. VVe can very easily compare our minds to soil. It doesnt matter how rich soil is, only weeds will grow, choking out the fruitful plants, unless it be cultivated. There- fore, if we want our minds to be fruitful, we must cultivate them by exercising them with academics. My fourth point is the need of a democracy. Here again at I ickering we have this, at least as close as school can be to a democracy. NVe have an open assembly in which everyone of us is free to stand up and give his suggestions or complaints in. front of the Whole student body without fear of it being held against him. The school committee listens to these complaints and then holds a. meeting with the staff representatives. The suggestions are thoroughly discussed, with an open mind on both sides and a fair decision or compromise is usually attained. My fifth and final belief is the need for understanding and tolerance of others, and we are given a chance to practise this at Pickering. Here we live very close together so We must learn to get along with -others if we are to have a happy com- munity. NVe should all try to be understanding, sympathetic and tolerant. Never should we persecute other boys physically, or worse, mentally. If we practise tolerance at Pickering we will create a more successful community and also the most valuable thing a person can have - Friends. I feel that if We follow these five basic beliefs of mine--leadership,-team- Work,-responsible citizenship-the use of a democracy-and the understanding and tolerance of others, We will be able to leave Pickering College feeling that it is a better place to live in because we were here and that we are prepared to be of service in our next community. I DAVE KING purpose of education S A MEMBER or OUR STUDENT BODY I do not pretend to present you with a. phil- osophical outline on the purpose of education. XVhat. I intend to talk about is merely what I think should be part of the motive which prompts you and me to be a member of this community. I am sure that most of you have thought a lot about this question. Wliat, is the point of getting an education? Does education merely serve you as a jumping- off board into a money-making profession or is it worthwhile to seek knowledge for its own sake? By knowledge I do not mean only factual knowledge. True knowledge is what you can make use ot' without looking at a model, without turn- ing your eyes to the book. There are supposed to be people with a so-called photo- Nineteen

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hap l HAPEL AT PICKERtlNfi is non-denominational, sometimes t.here are guest speakers or special services for the reception of new boys, Christmas and Easter, United Nations Dayg at other times the service consists only of readings and hymns. But every year, during the winter term, there are two services conducted by the members of the School Committee. and their talks are reproduced belo-w. HT e Community ICKERING AT FIRST seems like a small connnunity, but when we stop to think and realize that all of us here will in a few weeks be living all over Canada and maybe in the far corners of the earth, we realize that our community will be spread out and that it really won't be small. Then we stop and think again and see that already our community has been spread by those students who went before us. This is when we see that this community is made up of each one of us and that the responsibilities of the community lie on our shoulders. In order to earijv out the responsibilities we must first realize what makes a good connnunity. Of course there are hundreds of things a community depends upon, but there are five basic ideals which I believe are essential. Leadership z-for without leadership our community will be like a team with- out a coach. It would have the potential ability but it needs a leader to hold the team, or community together so that we are able to work in harmony. Secondly we need teamwork-because in a good community everyone is work- ing for the benefit of the others and not just his own needs, forgetting the harm he is doing to others. XVe need responsible citizens: for in a community we need citizens that can do their share in the work and in holding up the ideals ofthe community. We need a democracy for only under a democratic system is everyone given the opportunity to do what he likes for the connnunity he or she desires. And fifthly we need understanding and tolerance for those who are weaker than ourselves and also for those who make a mistake - we should try to help them learn from it instead ot discouraging them. Here at Pickering we are fortunate, for we have a chance to learn and exer- cise all these five points. We have here an opportunity to practise the skills of leadership by being on the school committee, corridor committees, chapel committee, and by taking part in our club meetings. Through all these ways we are given the chance to gain experience in leadership, and because experience is the teacher of all, the doors of leadership are opened to all ot us at Pickering if we are willing to put forth a true effort. Now consider the second point - teamwork. It is easy to see the value of this. All we have to do is look at our school teams and its importance is shown. If every man on the field does his job no matter how small it may seem, the team marches on and we all share the enjoyment of victory. Eighteen

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graphic mind who can memorize whole pages by just reading them through. How- ever I cannot see how a person who in this way accumulates facts in his mind, can be said to be a person of high education. If this was the sort of kno-wledge we were seeking then the fiuictions of our brain could be replaced by a huge file with a calculating machine attached to it, which, upon the push of a button, gives us the required information within a split second. This certainty could not be the purpose of education. It is much more the development of our faculties, the attainment of maximum scholastic achievement and the establishment of firm prin- ciples according to which we shape the conduct of our lives. It lies in the nature of our democratic form of society that the destiny of our nation lies in the hands of each individual. That means that each one of us has a responsibility which, if neglected, is the first symptom of decline and ulitimate downfall. Similarly fatal would be a condition where this responsibility rested in the hands of individuals who are incapable of recognizing the dangers which are constantly threatening to destroy our ideals. There is a tendency in our wealthy democracies to allow shal- low minded business leaders and generals to exert an ever-increasing pressure upon our governments. They draw their support from people who content themselves with a mere -extension of their material possessions. In despising spiritual ideals they act like a cancerous tumour which slowly but surely destroys the sound struc- ture of our society. As demonstrated by the fall of the Roman Empire, wealth and luxury invite vice and drive culture underground. I wonder if the fall of Rome had anything to do with the fact that 2000 years elapsed before a man like Descartes or Berkeley was produced who in their way of thinking matched the thinkers of ancient Greece. It was a time of utter spiritual lbarrenness which followed the flourishing culture of the Roman Empire. If the western world was going to suffer a similar fate there would not only follow a time of spiritual barren- ness but we would also be living under a system -of bolshevistic terror which leaves no room for the so-called Rights of Manf, To prevent such a thing happening is what I think should be part of the purpose of education. VVe do not want to accumulate a great deal of factual knowledge in our mindsg we rather want educa- tion to create in us. an outlook on life which will make us live up to our ideals in spite of wealth and prosperity. ROBERT LANG tolerance E HAVE ALL HEARD THE PARABLE of the good Samaritan, yet each time we hear it I think wc can derive more from it. The main thought I would like to take to-night is the fact that the Samaritan, a man who was not tolerated by the people of the land he was travelling in, had enough tolerance himself to help one of these people. Many of you may be thinking to yourselves now that, had you been in the Samaritairs position, you too would have helped the man lying in the ditch. But I don't think many of you would if you had gone through what he had as an outcast in society. We would expect most men to become very hurt and angry at such deeds for it is a very hard thing sometimes to be shunned and dis- liked for no action of your own. Yet the Samaritan had the wonderful quality of tolerance and he stopped and helped the poor fellow lying in the ditch and gave of his own time and money to help him. Twenty