Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

Page 18 text:

VDYFIGEUH INTERVIEW: SHEFIITH CLFIFIK Fl Candid Conv ersu tion Wil:h The Hend's Wife Only a few hours before weswent to press. VOYAGEUR editor. Chris Munn, managed to catch Sherita Clark, the Headmasters wife. to interview her for the yearbook. Mrs. Clark is one of the Ladies of Pickering who contribute a great deal to the life of the school without fanfare. ln keeping with our aim of capturing Pickering as it is. we decided to seek out Mrs. Clark as the premiere silent contributor. Most of us know Mrs. Clark on sight at least because we see her on special occasions and in the dining hall on her husbands duty nights. She entertains each of us at Christmas and often pours coffee and tea for us after dinner. Except for the casual conversation at such times. we rarely get to talk to her about things that don't relate directly to the school. THE VOYAGEUR gives us a chance to do this and to share the experience with the l came to the hilltop in 1972 with my husband. Sheldon. We are originally from the States and l had lived in both Ohio and Minnesota before we moved to Toronto. 14 student body. We see Sherita Clark in other roles besides that of hostess. She is the mother ofa charming blonde of three years. Amber, who delights everyone on the hilltop, has grown up with us and we have all watched her develop. We have also watched Mrs. Clark as she has ministered to the needs of a baby, a toddler and now a happy pre-schooler. ln these and other ways, Mrs. Clark shares her life with us. From the interview we discovered that she is a charming and dynamic lady. We do not often see her as the dedicated and competent professional woman that she is. Having set aside a career to raise a family and to participate in Pickering, Sherita Clark still manages to make a contribution to the Dental Hygiene profession on the provincial and national association levels. lt is clear from a conversation with Mrs. l am a past president of the Canadian Dental Hygienists' Association. With all of these ac- tivities, I am still very involved and, thus, I don't find that l miss my career. Clark that she is a concerned and valued professional person. A Although Mrs. Clark did not in the interview confess her interest in the music of Willie Nelson, we can sometimes hear the rock-country sounds of her albums playing through the open windows of her house as we pass by it. The music that she plays says something about her disposition and temperament. What all of this adds up to is a portrait of a complex, exciting and little known resident of our school. We found Mrs. Clark to be afriendly, approachable, frank and open person with a great sense ofhumour. Perhaps. after reading about her and reading what she has to say, more of us will be comfortable in talking to Mrs. Clark when we see her about the school. Sherita Clark has a rare talent for putting even an awkward, shy interviewer at his ease. in The main thing that I can see is that the whole community must learn to care about each other in a spirit of loving concern.

Page 17 text:

by Peter Kowk The club system IS rmportant to Prckenng because the students have a chance to enjoy old hobbres or learn new ones This year several more mterestlng and excltrng clubs were establxshed such as the Scuba club and Parachute club These made the club system rn Prckenng even more excrtlng The Rndlng club rs the frrst club to be dlscussed Just as last year the Rrdmg club was under the drrectron of Mr Menard and Mr TD Clark at Seneca College Every member rn thus club learned how to put on saddles and bndles Con the horse of coursel and how to clean the horses That process develops frrendshlp between the rrder and hrs horse In effect frrendshlps between the horse and tts rlder can be very 1mportant The Scuba club was a new club which was founded this year Every Thursday Mr Seretls encouraged the members of this club to practice and learn therr skulls at Slater s Pool Just outsrde Newmarket All of the members were strong because all of them had a medlcal check up ln order to see lf thelr bodxes could weather the hlgh pressure under water Durrng Club tlme they learned how to put on equlpment under water After tralnlng for two terms certrfrcatron tests were held rn June at Lake Snmcoe The Parachute club was the most excxtrng of all The club attracted many students although they had to pay a great deal to rent arrplanes and equlpment Thus club was dlrected by Mr McClymont The frrst Jump was about 1 OOO ft After some more practlce they went hrgher The actlvltles of thrs club were sometimes cancelled by bad weather Members went sky dlvrng on Saturday morn nngs throughout the year The Carpentry club took place ln the basement M Flusche supervlsed t Together club members were bunldlng a small sallboat about 10 ft long The Modellxng club under the drrectron of Mr Pape, took place rn the Physlcs Room They constructed thexr own model rockets planes and cars Mr Pape always taught slmple physxcs theorems to the members rn order to help them to construct models Also lf he members wanted to buy some new models or some parts he drove them to the hobby shop and also lent them some tools to make therr CLUBS It bud models better The Games club was operated by M Kane Members played backgammon Rrsk Chess and Master Mmd All of these board games were desrgned to lmprove men al skllls because the competxtuon was very stuff Sometrmes chocolate mrlk and coffee were supplled by Mr Kane The Photography club rnstructed by Mr Boyd consrsted of twelve members The members took all krnds of prctures around the school Although most of the members were junlor students and some of them d1d not ever own a camera they stlll could fmd a lot of fun ln thls club They learned how to develop fllms make pnnts and operate the darkroom The most dlsapporntmg aspect of thls club was that the equrpment rn the darkroom ns not up to date and most of lt IS over flve or seven years old We hope the school wlll support that club much more rn the future Also many students who wanted to be journalrsts Jorned The Hrlltop Tzmes whlch was under the dlrectlon of Mr lllndge They had worked ve hard ln order to produce a successful newspaper for the school once a month ln the newspaper all the news that hap pened ID our school was covered of the Gardenrng club provrded expert care for the plants throughout the school As a result the school has a refreshlng appearance Members not only worked durlng club trme but every mormng they could be ound waterlng the p an s throughout the school The book you are readrng now was produced by a club Wrth Mr Lockyer and Mrs Reta Clark The Voyageur staff spent a lot of txme and effort to produce thls year s yearbook The club met once a week durlng term and belreve lt or not for a week followlng fmal une examrnatlons That s dedlcatron Hungry club enthuslasts Jolned Mrs Zavntzs Bread Club whnch met rn her home once a week Not only dld members learn the cullnary skulls of bread making but also they had the opportumty to eat what they produced Rumour has lt that Sherratt and McMechan were leaders IU the eatlng actlvltles anyway The End ' ' r. . . - 1 . ..1 1 I r l . I A I T K . .. T n n I 1 T I x s I . , I 4, , .. l 4, - I' - . . ' . . I- K 5 T ' ' ' an A' 'll ' 'V ' i . . Y . 4 . ly, , 1 I . . . v, ,Y V Q - , .. . . , 4 . Q . , ' ' Q Mr. Barrett? with the members I IA, C T. . . f 1 5-I V4 . l . ' ' T X -T T .sTf N if A I l I ' . . - - N w fr- Q fr- g S I ' t 'A Q' f l t I g . .. , as n S T . S l. . I , ' ' A l , , Jw 1 D u Q If V L . . ..- . D V r . , I . 7 . t N . V . ..

Page 19 text:

VOYAGEUR: You came to Pickering College several years ago. What year was it that you actually arrived? CLARK: I came to the Hilltop in 1972 with my husband, Sheldon. We are originally from the States and I had lived in both Ohio and Min- nesota before we moved to Toronto. VOYAGEUR: It must have been quite a change moving to Canada from the United States. Do you miss anything about the United States? CLARK: Well, apart from the racial strife, no, I don't think I do. I really would not want to return to the States except to visit my relatives. I miss Toronto much more since the four years spent there by my husband and me were very en- joyable. We don't see our friends from Toronto as much because we are not as close as we used to be and don't have as much free time for visiting. VOYAGEUR: During your years in Toronto you had a totally different career than you do now. How did you find your work as a Dental Hygienist? CLARK: I enjoyed the work very much. After I graduated with an associate degree from a community college in Cleveland I began to practise. I found the work very in- teresting since it involved working with people and quite a bit of manual dexterity. It was a fine way to meet I really would not want to return to the States except to visit my relatives. many very fascinating people. Once we had moved to Toronto I taught Dental Hygiene at the University of Toronto in the Dental Faculty. I wouldn't mind teaching again but my arthritis would prevent me from returning to my practice. I am still involved in the Association provincially and nationally although I don't practice. Provincially I am involved in a Task Force on Self Regulation which works to change 'legislation on ways that people practice. Nationally I help in coore dinating a national membership campaign. I am a past president of the Canadian Dental Hygienists' Association. With all of these ac- tivities, I am still very involved and thus don't find that I miss being in practice. VOYAGEUR: Since your husband came to Pickering College you must have found some great differences from your old profession. What types of things do you do as the wife of the Headmaster? CLARK: Actually, my role is completely undefined. I work quite a lot in the school by helping Sheldon and by preparing receptions. Since my husband doesn't have counselees I find that I have more trouble getting I enjoy having people around and like involvement with the school. H to know students. I enjoy having people around and like involvement with the school very much. I enjoy the activities and all of the different varieties of people whom I meet. VOYAGEUR: With all of the ac- tivities which take place within the school, do you find a lack of privacy as far as family life is concerned? CLARK: I don't mind the lack of privacy at all. Infact, there isn't really much of a lack of privacy as far as most of the students are concerned, People from town cause most of the troubles in that respect. I would like to have more opportunities to get to know the students than I do. VOYAGEUR: You are very busy with your family outside interests, and involvement in the school but if you had the time would you like to choose another job at Pickering as well? CLARK: Yes, if time permitted I would like to open a position as Workshop Facilitator in Human Relations Training. This would in- volve helping people to establish values and meet certain goals in life. I am already active in this sort of work as a Dental Hygienist. These workshops enable people to develop skills in leadership. communication, decision making and problem solving. There is a lot of emphasis on defining clear goals and objectives for every task. as well as ordering priorities. The types of skills that are being developed can be applied in one's personal life as well as in one's profession. VOYAGEUR: You play quite a large role in the schools activities. Are other wives very involved in school activities? CLARK: The other wives don't really have roles in the school apart from helping with some of the receptions. This is largely because most of them work now. Previously most of them never had other jobs. I would like to see them play a bigger role but with their different lifestyles it is difficult. VOYAGEUR: There are quite a few differences between Pickering teachers and others. What sort of things do Pickering families find more difficult? CLARK: Pickering teachers spend more time at the school than most. For this reason there is less family time. This causes a lot of stress since activities prevent the Faculty from seeing their families as much. Thus, a lot of patience and understanding is needed. I feel that the best way to deal with the lack of family time is to involve the family in as many ac- tivities at the school as possible. VOYAGEUR: What advice can you give to people living or working at Pickering? CLARK: The main thing that I can see is that the whole community must learn to care about each other in a spirit of loving concern. This will help to teach people through ex' perience how to handle life. In this way the result will be a positive growth involving everyone. I would like to have more opportu- nities to get to know the students than Ido. 'l I5