Saskatchewan Teachers College - Lampada Yeabook (Regina, Saskatchewan Canada)

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cKECHNI

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NE of the most rewarding experiences which I have had as Principal of Teachers College during the past year has been the simple contact with youth—young men and young women bent on a purpose, their lives full of the present, but somehow carrying in their faces and in their personalities the poten¬ tialities of the future. I have in my possession the Yearbook of the graduating class of 1903. I suspect that the young men and women in that class of sixty years ago were much like those in the class of 1963. It is not only interesting, but almost thrilling to contemplate the lives of those older graduates and realize that so many of them are key personalities in the history of this Province and of this country. They apparently had stars to guide them, big purposes to pursue, and great capacity for labor in solving the problems of their immediate future. And so my simple message to you as the members of the class of 1963 is the expression of a hope that, in your thinking, you will catch a glimpse of the possible greatness which is in you; that you will set your course by stars that lead to places where it is worthwhile to go; that you will realize that the future is yours if you will only explore its possibilities; and that your lives as teachers and citizens of this land will be dominated by the ideal of service to your church, to your community and to your fellowmen. My good wishes go with you as you leave this institution to serve in the schools in the near and far-away parts of our Province. J. W. Tait 4

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l a (edicloi ' i ¥ S HAKESPEARE spoke eloquently of leave tak¬ ing with his “Good-night, good-night! parting is such sweet sorrow.” How apropos are Shakespeare’s words to the oc¬ casion this morning! It is rather difficult and awkward to speak of matters of the heart, yet this is a right and proper time to voice our emotions. Surely sweet sorrow lingers in the hearts of all of us as we break the ties of school and friendship and look back on the difficult times and the happy times with a new and growing nostalgia. We are leaving Teachers College. We are feeling pretty certain of ourselves now and we are looking out at the world we will conquer with confidence and optimism. This is as it should be, but let us never for¬ get that our education is far from complete—that it will not end so long as we live. There is the story of the young Britisher who, having just received his college degree, rushed out and exclaimed, “Here I am, World—I have my A.B.!” The World replied, “Sit down, son, and I’ll teach you the rest of the alphabet.” Each of us will be leaving something of ourselves at Teachers College, and each of us will be taking something of the teachers who have been our men¬ tors and our counsellors during the past nine months. The giving has been pretty well in our favour, but in the years ahead we will pay back this debt of wisdom and knowledge with interest. This morning is one of triumph. Last September, we met as students. Now, we meet as teachers, and, like Miss MacLean, the brave little soul in Mr. Hill’s favourite “teacher story,” we have, or soon shall have, B certificate to prove it. To the Principal and Faculty, we owe a lasting debt of gratitude. Perhaps the first installment of this is being paid back this morning, because you, the Faculty, now see before you the results of your hard work, your skill and your dedication. On behalf of my fellow graduates, I offer our thanks. There is another important group represented here today to whom we are grateful. I speak of our parents, whose unfailing inspiration, guidance, and material aid are prime factors in our being here today to graduate as teachers. At this time next year, we will, for the first time, see our own pupils “graduate.” The experience is cer- 6 tain to generate within us mixed feelings of pride and sadness, and quite likely give rise to unmanly (but 1 might say womanly) lumps in our throats. That very important moment in time will bring home the gres t significance of the challenge and trust that is ours es teachers. As we travel life’s way s, let us continue to gron in wisdom and stature, and let us not take ourselves too seriously. Of teaching, Mark Twain once said, rather irreverently, “Soap and education are not as sudden as a massacre, but they are more deadly in the long run.” This morning, we are meeting as the “class of ’62 for the last time. In a few short weeks, we will be¬ come members of communities within and beyond the borders of Saskatchewan. May our endeavours b: ever guided by a nobility of purpose transcending tb: corrupting influences that will assail us from time to time. Let us walk the road ahead with head held high and with purposeful stride, never looking back ex¬ cept in happy retrospect. There is a simple truth in the words of Elbert Hubbard, who said, “The objec: of teaching a child is to enable him to get along with¬ out his teacher.” Being partial to poetry, and with a fatal weak¬ ness for the Heroic Couplet, I wish to salute my fel¬ low teachers and the Faculty of Teachers College with Oliver Goldsmith’s appropriate lines: “There in his noisy mansion, skill’d to rule, The village master taught his little school . . . Full well they laugh’d, with counterfeited glee, At all his jokes, for many a joke had he; Full well the busy whisper, circling round, Convey’d the dismal tidings when he frown’d.” Roger Phillips