Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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A Personal Word To The Students On the wall at the back of our Meeting Room hang two plaques. You under- stand the story they tell, for it has been passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation as part of our Pickering heritage. It is time to record it in more permanent form. Our philosophy of education finds its roots in the religious beliefs of our founders, the Society of Friends. Their basic concern was for the in- dividual and for the development of his potential whether it be great or small. Therefore, they hoped that Pickering College would be aschool where each student would have the opportunity to achieve his full growth and cherish the desire to place his talents at the service of his fellow men. This is high sounding idealism, but you know that it is true from your own experience of life. The purpose of our being is surely and simply to give of whatever talent we are possessed. The two Pickering students to whom our plaques are dedicated had an innate understanding of this Christian belief. The wooden plaque is dedicated to the memory of Andy Smith who died here at eighteen years of age. Andy was a student of very limited academic ability, somewhat awkward in his relations with people, but bluntly honest in all his dealings. He had taken the Quaker concept of service as his own and was always eager to lend a helping hand to those about him. In boarding school life, as you know, there are many oppor- tunities daily when manual help is needed both by staff and students. Andy was the one to whom we could always turn for this kind of assis- tance. Andy's unselfish way of life is well commemorated by the words on the plaque: How happy is he born and taught That serveth not another's willy Whose armour is his honest thought, And simple truth his finest skill! The bronze plaque was erected in memory of Bayne Cummer who also died at eighteen years of age. Bayne was a student of brilliant aca- demic ability who spent the last two years of his high school course here at Pickering. By nature modest and reserved, he was one of those scholars who have to learn to understand the ways of boys and this he did. Al- though not well coordinated in athletic skills, by sheer dogged spirit and courage he earned a place on the senior rugby team in his last year here. Not a natural leader of his peers, nevertheless he was elected as secre- tary of our student government, the School Committee. Bayne was a thinker and a philosopher, sincerely dedicated to the ideals for which our school stands, - truth, freedom,tolerance and, above all, love of one's neighbour. He believed that our relationship to God was expressed and reflected in our relationship with our neighbour. This faith gave him great inward strength and outward influence. At the close of his second year at Picker- ing, one week after his tragic death, it was announced that Bayne had won seven University scholarships. His influence is still felt at Pickering where his writings are used in our Meetings for Worship. The strength of his conviction is reflected in his own words reproduced on the plaque: Let the gloomy caves re-echo All is well , as with firm step We go forward through the unknown. Harry M. Beer

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IX HARRY M. BEER

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A Year 0 Uur Lives We have just undergone the experience of another year and have emerged, some to try new and uncharted ground, some to continue in the same path, and some to retread the same leg of the journey. Whichever of these cate- gories contains us, we have derived something from this year, for it has been a year, and a good one at that: two successful stage productions, a triumphant football team, a Foreign Film Society, a sunlit track season, and many other sources of enjoyment have filled it to the brim. lf from a year of our lives we have learned nothing of value to our- selves, we don't know how to recognize the good of the contributions our experience makes to our thinking, this may be a result of cynicism, or failure to try to understand the worth in what goes on around us. In the community life we have shared in this past year we have had ample oppor- tunity to gain from and to contribute to its value and its enjoyment,and we all have, to some degree. lf, however, we let cynicism and a readi- ness to collect injustices serve as an excuse to do enither, we lose much of this value and this enjoyment, and it is nobody's fault but our own. It would be pointless to say this at this time if it were not in review of our experiences that the most important gains can be secured. Let us free ourselves from cynicism and realize that we have learned something about ourselves and about people, whether we have tried or not. We have had a chance to test our abilities, and to improve our capa- bilities, and most of us have taken advantage of these opportunities. It is now up to us to gather and try to understand the worth of these experi- ences and to apply them to our thinking as best we can. In this way this year can become a stepping-stone to maturity and transmit not only not less, but greater the knowledge of ourselves that we have gained from it. Peter Stephens I ight