Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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it .5 . A Message from ,Q A the Editor , .args It has been a year of disaster, a year of achievement. lt has been a year of destruction, a year of growth. It has been a year unlike any other, a year that shall not soon be forgotten. It will be remembered as the year of the fire. ,,,-, Will any of us forget that day in November? There are a million X U stories from every point of view. There are poignant moments that .f ffl? stand out clearly. Moments before the alarm, Jack Bahl turned to his classmate in the soon to be destroyed Room J and said 'fDon't you think its getting hot in here? Yemi Ajayi came flying down the stairs yelling f'It's for real, it's for real. As we all rushed out the back door and looked up at the Red House, we realized that indeed the fire was for real. Slowly the realization and finality of the awful destruction sunk in as we stood in the Dining Hall, names being sounded out like an epitaph to the survivors. Slowly people faded away to their houses. Darkness fell on the school as firemen continued to battle the blaze outside. A few students and teachers in the hollow emptiness of the main corridor clustered around a few flashlights as the sound of water cascaded all around. A few last minute decisions. Then all was quiet. That one day decided the course of the rest of the year. It changed all our lives. Many times in the months that followed I wondered what school life would have been like if the fire had never happened. We returned in a few days: slowly moving back, circling in small groups, feeling horribly insignificant. Morale was low. The future of the school itself was unclear. There was talk of moving to Bowmanville and of rebuilding in Newmarket. The Christmas Banquet however was, in my view, the psychological turning point. lt was symbolic that at the time when we were celebrating the Nativity, our school was, at best in our minds, being reborn. lt would rise from the ashes. Life would go on. From then on all the sacrifices we had to make land there would be manyl were made without complaint. People were shuffled around endlessly: from Rogers House to Firth House to the Trailer City Yacht Club and back to Rogers House again. People studied for the belated Christmas exams in the Dining Hall and in the Meeting Room. Classes were held in trailers, the basement of Firth House and in the Mezzanine overlooking the dining room. Where there was space. we used it! The Faculty proved their worth over and over. The new teachers especially faced the biggest challenge. Lacking experience of some of the older teachers, they suddenly found themselves in a situation for which they were un- prepared, for which they could not possibly have been prepared. They of all people are to to be recognized. lt was a shock. The physical unity of the School had disintegrated into a number of scattered havens about the campus. People, however, pulled together. In the disunity, a new unity crystallized. We realized that those ideals, the sacred things of our school, the faith, the fellowship, the freedom, the fun were not things that a fire could destroy. They are immortal. Hope is the fire that burns within and it is within that it will always remain, untouchable, inextinguishable. This Yearbook is a manifestation of that hope, that upward nobility that causes us all to strive unceasingly for better in the face of all discouragement. It is a tribute to those people who made this year, this school not only not less, but greater, better and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us. Steven Schmidt 5

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A Personal Word t from the Headmaster Dearly beloved Friends. these things we do not lay upon you as a rule or form to walk by. but that all. with the measure of light which is pure and holy. may be guided: and so in the light walking and abiding. these may be fulfilled in the Spirit. not in the letter. for the letter killeth. but the Spirit giveth life. Letter from the Meeting of Elders at Balby. 1656. Unity of spirit is a cherished ideal. Conformity of approach in reaching that ideal is not necesssary. Yet. simple co-operation. respect for others. the willingness to try. to strive. and not to yield. are reasonable expectations as we live together in this educational community. i Unity of spirit may be stimulated by the teacher in the classroom as he inspires his students to focus on the common topic: mathematical l solution: a debate point, the lessons of history, the endoskeleton of a vertebrate. dramatic ensemble. or a newly learned piece of Chopin. Unity of spirit is achieved in sports as coach and team dynamically work out a strategy to win. to rally. to concede graciously. but with renewed desire for the next attempt. Unity of spirit is found in clubs as people regardless of age, or experience. or level of educational attainment find enjoyment and relaxation in endeavours of high mutual interest. Unity of spirit is felt in the school activities which develop our spiritual awareness. The Meeting for Worship is the focal time in our school week. Private thoughts are intentionally set aside so that our little selves can have the opportunity to reach out to the infinite much. We seek to appreciate Christian and non-Christian ideals as embraced by the family of man. We seek to understand a correspondence between faith and practice in our own lives. Perhaps the greatest challenge we all face is to find a way into a philosophy of life. and then. attempt to implement that philosophy in our daily doings with our friends and acquaintances. Certainly. Jesus' injunction to love one another has been found to be most difficult round the world. Unity of spirit lies in recognition that our creature comforts deserve satisfaction: well-balanced diets. plenty of sleep and sufficient exercise to keep our physical being healthy. Unity of spirit is a cherished ideal. lt is also attainable. Each time we feel differences arising. we need to seek a common ground. Each time we sense we are out of tune. we need to take personal stock of what we are thinking. where we are going and how we -are effecting others. Then. we have to make a personal value judgment: ls my thought conducive to Unity of Spirit? Are my actions promoting Unity of Spirit? lf the answer to these two key questions is. Yes, and the consequences are perceived to be good when tested in the light of others' experience. then the course of action which is supportive to following through is open. lf. however. the answer to any one of the questions is. No, then it is clear that an alternative has to be found. Unity of spirit is a cherished ideal and a practical reality. I would trust that as we work and live and play together in our school community we would work toward realizing that ideal and that reality continuously. Sheldon H. Clark 4

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Robert E.K. Rourke '28 Teacher and Scholar Par Excellence lt is sad to have to report the death of Robert E.K. Rourke. Headmaster of Pickering College from 1947 to 1953, in his home in Avon. Connecticut on July 18th, 1981, in his 76th year. His talent and his vitality brought much to our Hilltop during his association with our school from 1928 to 1953. ln those years his students and his colleagues saw him as a man of many strong interests: mathematics. music, stamps. paintings. photography. camping and his enthusiasm for these pursuits overflowed. to the benefit of all concerned, into the classroom, the Glee Club. his collection of Canadian Art. the Root of Minus One Club and Camps Ahmek and Mazinaw. Bob Rourke pursued all these ac- tivities with great zeal. but there was no doubt that his true love was to be found in the art of teaching. lt was his talent to be able to take a mathematical concept, a confused blur to us his students. and clarify it as an ordered and logical process. One student described Bob Rourke's ability to teach as a kindling of a series of lights in the darkness of his head so that the path from proposition to the solution 6 became crystal clear. Understandably, then, his classes were an exciting experience as he led his students to a perception, hitherto concealed. Bob Rourke's love of music led him to found and direct the Pickering College Glee Club which brought fame to our school and delight to our audiences in presenting Gilbert and Sullivan operettas for over a quarter of a century. ln this endeavour he was greatly aided by the beautiful soprano voice of his wife. Alice Strong Rourke. Bob Rourke himself, as well as being a brilliant director. shone with great humour in leading roles. ln addition to the classroom and the Glee Club, R.E.K. Rourke also took delight in the Root of Minus One Club, a study group devoted to mathematics and science which he founded and inspired for many years. Bob Rourke was a scholar of distinction. He graduated from Queen's University in Honour Mathematics in 1927g joined Joseph McCulley and the Pickering team in 1928 and took two years leave of absence from 1930 to 1932 to earn his M.A. at Harvard. ln 1939 he became Assistant Headmaster and in 1941, Associate Headmaster and member of the Board of Management. When Joseph McCulley departed in 1947. Bob Rourke became Headmaster and remained in that position for six years until 1953. ln that year he became Chairman of the Department of Mathematics at Kent School, Kent, Connecticut. Following several years at Kent School Bob Rourke with Donald Stewart, formerly Assistant Headmaster at Pickering, founded St. Stephen's School in Rome. where he remained until his retirement. Throughout all his years as a teacher, at Pickering, at Kent, at St. Stephen's, R.E.K. Rourke markedly advanced the teaching of mathematics by writing and by collaborating in writing many mathematical textbooks. Bob Rourke was a great educator. He made strong demands on the minds of his students and thus brought them to realize their potential. By awakening their intellects and by teaching them the discipline of study, he helped them grow closer to maturity. As one of R.E.K. Rourke's former students and colleagues I also associate his view of the teacher's role with this thought expressed by Sir Richard Livingston: A fundamental principal of education should be to make the pupil realize the meaning of excellence. We thank him for expecting the best of us. Harry M. Beer '31 Headmaster Emeritus