Selwyn House School - Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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20 SELWYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE 1 , :I-14 4 1 ' T Y Debating The l956-57 debating club of the Selwyn House Oratorical Society was named MU. It was composed of all the boys in the fifth form plus one member from the fourth. At the first meeting the Executive Committee was elected by the members, with Daniel Javitch voted as President, Christopher Hyde as Vice-president and Brian Saunderson as Secretary- Treasurer. The club meetings took place every fortnight, either on Thursdays or Fridays. Several of the meetings were held at the homes of some of the members, who received us with much hospitality, The meetings' programs consisted of set speeches, briefs, and formal debates. The latter covered a large variety of subjects. For example: resolved that i'British products are better than American ones or that Smoking is iniurious to boys , and in a lighter vein, that The modern girl is most unfeminine' or that 'The Barbarian is happier than the Civilized man . The Society has had a most successful year, and it would wish to express its gratitude to Mr. Speirs for having taken some of his precious time in supervising the club throughout the season. INTER-HOUSE DEBATING Enthusiastic and keen competition resulted from the annual inter-house debating contest. The preliminary debates and house teams were as follows : lll Resolved that country life is better than city life. Affirmative. Lucas Team-Maximilian Ferro and Allan Wakefield. Negative: Wanstall Team-Michael Stanger and Todd LaFontaine. l2l Resolved that capital punishment should be abolished . Affirmative: Macaulay Team-Daniel .lavitch and Brian Saunderson. Negative. Speirs Team-Donald Doyle and David Hutcheson. Wanstall defeated Lucas in the first debate and Macaulay emerged victorious in the second. ln the Finals of the inter-house competition, the Wanstall Team defeated the Macaulay Team, upholding the affirmative that Those with most money are not the wealthiest . Similarly the Lucas Team defeated the Speirs in the affirmative resolution that Education overstresses extra-curricular activities . Thus Wanstall was first, Macaulay second, Lucas third, and Speirs fourth. We are very grateful to Mr. Moodey who took the time and trouble in judging and commenting on the debates.

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FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR 1956-1957 I9 The Nesbitt Cup lfor inter-house Competition in General Activitiesl Macaulay House The Anstey Cup ltor inter-house Academic Competitionl Macaulay House The LeMoine Trophy lfor inter-house Competition in Debatingl Speirs House The Governors' Shield lfor over-all ascendancy in inter-house Competitionl Macaulay House The Bogert Cricket Trophy ltor competition between the lst Xl and the Fathers' Teaml Won by The Fathers The Lieutenant-Governors Silver Medal for Academic Distinction in Senior School P. Vodstrcil The Lieutenant-Gevornor's Bronze Medal for Academic Distinction in Junior School P. Valois The Jeffrey Russel Prize lAwarded for all-round ability and presented by Mrs. H. Y. Russell D. Phillips The Lucas Medal lfxwarded to the most outstanding boy in the Senior Form of the School in work, games, leadership and character, on vote of his fellow-students and Stal? of the Schooll R. Aikman Academic Successes To Ashbury College-Scholarships won by J. Chamard, R. Gilbert and R. Moore. To Bishop's College School-Scholarships won by John Fieldhouse and Peter Vodstrcil To Lower Canada College-Scholarships won by Gordon Peters and David Phillipsg Bursary awarded to Robert Hallett.

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FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR T956-I957 21 PUBLIC SPEAKING CONTEST The annual Public Speaking Competition was held in the middle of March this year, the preliminaries being iudged by the Headmaster and the finals, which took place at the school, by Mr. Raymond Parsons, a distinguished Montreal lawyer. Those chosen to speak in the finals were: Maxi Ferro, Christopher Hyde, Daniel Javitch, Todd LaFontaine, Patrick Phillips, and Allan Wakefield. Unfortunately Allan Wakefield was prevented by illness from being present at the finals. Christopher Hyde was adjudged the winner, with Daniel Javitch and Patrick Phillips being placed second and third respectively. Brian Saunderson acted as chairman and Michael Stanger was time-keeper. THE FOLLOWING WERE THE FINALISTS' SPEECHES: Maxi Ferro: General Gordon, Christian, Soldier and Hero. Christopher Hyde: Fingerprinting in the F.B.l. Daniel Javitch: The relationship between Man and Cat. Todd LaFontaine: Skin Diving. Patrick Phillips: What you see and how you see. THE CHOIR Congratulations are extended to Rodney Smith and Donald Steven, who were awarded the Senior and Intermediate Singing Prizes last June. The Test Pieces were Linden Lea and 'iEarly One Morning . This year the competition in the Senior Choir promises to be particularly keen, as the number of boys able to sing solos with distinction is unusually large. At the Christmas Entertainment three choirs sang groups of carols. The soloists on that occasion were:-lSenior Choirl Rodney Smith, Donald Steven, Gerald Ross, Ralph Walker, Michael Gwinnell, Timothy Coristine, Nicholas Kairis, Gordon Peters and Harry Bloomfield. llntermediate Choirl Billy Ballantyne, David Malone, Graham Tennant, Teddy Manthorp, Peter Martin, Christopher Roulson and Eric Garland. Uunior Choirl Michael Boulton, Ronnie Graham, Billy Eaton, Duncan Forbes, Jimmy Sedgewick, Bobby Bloomberg, and John Angus. Since September a number of interesting and more difficult hymn tunes has been learned, and the speed with which this has been done has been most encouraging. During the Easter Term a bass section was added to the Choir, which in spite of the very limited time available for practice, nevertheless was soon heard to advantage. As a number of voices are reaching the changing stage, it is probable that this part will be considerably augmented after Easter, and possibly a tenor section inaugurated. We are most grateful for the keen interest and enthusiasm of all concerned. F.G.P.