Shawnigan Lake School - Yearbook (Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia Canada)

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education. Especially is it important that the young read and digest biographies of great men. We see in our young people generally a more widespread lack of development in this art of reading than ever before, owing to obvious causes. As we expand our facilities we must be certain to provide more libraries and attractive reading rooms, because they will be fundamental in this develop- ment. We must do our utmost to recapture that sense of awe and wonder and enquiry which used to be more common— a feeling that life was an exciting adventure, and that the world around us was full of thrilling unknowns. Then will come a sense of the sublime which will raise men above the level all too commonly found today. Parents so often say that their boy would do well at school if only he knew how to study. Learning how to study is fundamentally learning how to read and to focus attention for longer and longer periods of time. The long-continued effort always brings results. Now with regard to our results, at this stage it is difficult to say how our present graduating class has done in their recent examinations; but I can say something about the class of last year. Last June, even though a much higher standard was required in the University Entrance examinations, we were pleased to learn from the Department that 13 of our 26 Grade 12 boys received Govern- ment scholarships and that this was the highest number per capita of any school in the province. For this year, the only results we have so far are that four of our students have already been accepted into first-class American universities: Richard Anderson has won a scholarship to the University of Illinois, Nick Kaiser has been accepted into Yale, Dal Grauer into Amherst and Christopher Elms into M.I.T. You will recognize these universities as being among the 12

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deed, prejudice is a wonderful time saver— it enables one to have an opinion without bothering to get the facts. It is certainly true that Shawnigan teams do very well in their athletic endeavours and, on an overall analysis, one will see that the School wins more inter-school competitions than any other school in the province. However, from this it is not a corollary to decide that therefore the academic programme is secondary. Unfortunately the newspapers publicize our athletic achievements all too easily, whereas it is difficult to publicize to the same extent the academic developments which are taking place (nor would this be desirable). However, they are taking place and we are devoting our main energies to the improvement of standards in this field. While these results will not be so easily recognized as those in other fields, they exist nonetheless, and will be more appreciated in the long run. This may sound fine in theory, but what are we actually doing and have we any tangible results? The practical elements of our policy include the estab- lishment of three academic streams through the school, with no class above Grade 8 having more than twenty pupils in it; and we have also improved our staff— student ratio to 1:11. As a result of these factors we are able to provide for more homogeneous teaching in our programme, and we are able more and more to give personal attention to our boys and to extend them to their indi- vidual capacities. With regard to any special approach to academics which we are striving to make at Shawnigan, over and above Department requirements for a high school programme, I would say this: We believe, and we make this our concern, that a deep-rooted desire and ability to read widely and intelligently is the be- ginning of wisdom scholastically, and almost ensures more success in higher 77

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most difficult to enter and you may see, therefore, that we are developing an academic climate here where good students can grow and flourish. The other members of the Graduating Class have written entrance exams for U.B.C. or for Victoria College (after July 1st University of Victoria) and we expect good results from many of them. In summary I wish to make it clear that, while our results in the academic field are already quite good, we are by no means satisfied with them. Some of us here are making it our first concern to find ways of using the limited funds and facilities which we have available to make the academic programme at Shawnigan one which is truly stimulating and fascinating for our students. We know we have a long way to go — as has any other school in this country which you care to mention— but we are dedicating ourselves to this end, and we shall achieve it. We have been encouraged by the tremendous progress which has been made in education on this continent over the past five or six years. Cer- tainly over the last decade there has been much criticism of secondary school education; but at the same time, and particularly recently, it has been a period of search for new ideas and methods, of the development of new techniques and talents, and of sound and valuable experimentation both inside and outside the curriculum. Indeed the curriculum of today in a strong school system is already quite different from that of even five years ago, and there ' s much more to come. The whole system of old-fashioned structured learning, with emphasis upon acquisition of fact and general rote learning, is gradually being replaced by courses and curricula requiring a higher level of thinking, enrichment of learning experience, acceleration of pace, and a high degree of motivation. Many of us at Shawnigan are excited by the new possibilities which are open- ing up in this modern world in the field of education, and we intend to equip ourselves as well as possible with information and with facilities so that we may provide for our boys the most uplifting and stimulating type of programme of which we are capable. Turning to the athletic side of our school life, it is my feeling that I should not lose you in a long list of results, but that I should suggest only the main highlights and make some general comments. It is true that outside of class- time we see to it that the boys participate in a rigorous and competitive physical training programme. We do this purposely, believing that there are many fine qualities of character to be developed by such a programme, and believing also that there is a direct connection between physical fitness and mental alertness. Again we have offered a wide variety of sports which has given an oppor- tunity to many boys with different kinds of athletic abilities to find enjoyment and purpose in playing games. We continue to be fortunate at Shawnigan in having a staff sufficiently versatile that good coaching can be provided in all the sports which are offered. Indeed, while other individual schools which can be mentioned achieve outstanding success in one or two or maybe three sports, our staff is producing teams which are rated among the top two or three in the province in rugby, cricket, rowing, track and field, cross country, squash and gymnastics. We are producing results in many fields, rather than in one or two, because of the careful training given by our staff in all the activities they under- 73