Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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Probably the most stimulating part of our year has been our sojourn in Africa, where we have visited three independent countries, Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya, most of our time being spent in Zambia where our son David, is stationed with the Canadian University Service Overseas. With only a few years of self-government behind them, these countries are making fast strides economically and educationally in an attempt to make up for the exploited state in which they were left by European colonisers. We are greatly impressed by the pride and dignity of these developing peoples and by their determined spirit to thwart the potential economic domination of southern Africa, notably the apartheid republic of South Africa, where a minority of racist whites rule, restrict and oppress millions of black Africans. This spirit in the new nations finds its strength in the belief that man can succeed against great odds and obstacles by virtue of strong and honest effort. ln this way, it reminds me of the Quaker philosophy on which we are nurtured at Pickering with its emphasis ofjudging men on their merit. Here in Zambia the lines of a prayer often used in our Pickering Meetings for Worship frequently come to my mind: Teach us to be worthy of freedoml Free from social wrong, free from individual oppression and contempt, Pure of heart and hand, despising none, defrauding none, Giving to all men in all the dealings oflife The honour we owe to those who are Thy children, Whatever their colour, their race or their creed. ln this year away from Pickering, l have found the teachings of our Quaker school to be true and valid. You will understand, therefore, why I am looking forward enthusiastically to being with you all again and to the challenge ofourlife inthe school on the hill . Harry M. Beer, Headmaster. AIX'

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A Personal Word From The Headmaster This academic year the College has been under new conditions of stewardship. Mr. Beer, the Headmaster, has been on a sabbatical leave, travelling in Europe and Africa, and will be returning to take over the helm in September. During the course of the school year, it has been a privilege and an honour to have had an opportunity to share, along with a fine staff and an excellent student body, in the direction of all phases of school life. This combination firmly establishes in my mind the personal satisfaction gained from being dedicated to such a worthy field of endeavour. lt has been most gratifying to see the reaction of students under pressures of team play, theatrical productions and examinations, and realize how fortunate the community has been to have had such strength of character, balance and leadership. Each student has contributed to making this a most successful year. All students have developed within themselves a deeper appreciation of that inner discipline which is so important in making the correct decisions and accepting group responsibilities. The students who are graduating this year will give the firm quality of leadership so important and necessary to the new communities of which they will become a part. The students who will be returning in September will have a high standard to maintain and I am sure that they will carry the torch of success to greater heights. The following essay has been an inspiration to many great men and I would like to pass it on to you to help guide your thinking in the future. Youth is not a time oflife A it is a state of mindg it is a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over love of ease. Nobody grows old by merely living a number of yearsg people grow old by deserting their ideals. Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair e these are the long, long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back to dust. You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubts, as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fearg as young as your hope, as old as your despair. So long as your heart receives messages of beauty, cheer, courage, grandeur, and power from the earth, from man and from the infinite, so long are you young. When the wires are all down and the central place of your heart is covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then you have grown old indeed and may God have mercy on your soulf, Eric M. Veale, Acting Headmaster. eight