Stratford Central Secondary School - Collegian Yearbook (Stratford, Ontario Canada)

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OOLLEGIAN, 1937 STRATFORD, ONT and if we, as is fitting, apply the golden rules which we have learned, along with perseverance and industry in our daily work, we must achieve success. A famous man once said, Genius is one-tenth inspiration and nine-tenths perspiration. Besides, Incentives come from the soul's self, The rest avail not. Also, we must set our minds upon some lofty goa.l, for a man's reach should exceed his grasp. And if, in our struggles, we encounter serious difficulties and are not always as successful as we may wish, let us remember the words of Browning: Then, welcome each rebuff That turns earth's smoothness rough! Each sting that bids nor sit nor stand but go! Be our joys three parts pain! Strive, and hold cheap the straing Learn nor account the pang, dare, never grudge the throe. HER PRAYER By Cynthia Carter, 2A. Mildawna made a prayer- It was a simple thing. She prayed That everyone would be so glad That flowers bloom and robins sing, That no one ever would be bad. And God-He heard her prayer- A silver fairy hovered near And changed each word into a dove Which flew with snowy wings to The Saviour in the sky above. And when God heard her prayer- A hundred thousand angels sang A solemn anthem loud and strong, And, to the cold earth, far below, Fell fluttering fragments of the song. And then, Mildawna's prayer- It found a way into a heart That hitherto was drab and gray, And, like a breath of summer breeze, It blew the sordidness away. Mildawna made a prayer- And little thought of what she did. But once, when she was gazing far Into the boundless sky of night, She smiled-and saw a pale white star. Page Twenty-two

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COLLEGIAN, 1937 STRATFORD, ONT Vzzleaficioffy, 193 7 BY JOHN GERBY, 5.4. Time and Tide wait for no Mom. ' gl AQ? IVE or six fleeting years have sped past and now we are nearing the end of our Collegiate days. What a change these few short years have made in all of us! From shy, reticent and timorous freshmen, we have become, shall we say, C H lofty, dignified and learned seniors, proud members of the eighty- third graduating class of the Stratford Collegiate. All this effrontery is, however, only a covering-a very thin covering--which we have assumed to hide our real feeling-a tightening of the throat. All of us must experience this same feeling, when we realize that in a few short months our school days, which, we are told, are the happiest days of our lives, must come to an end. What we so eagerly imagined as children is not true! We are not glad to be leaving school! In time to come, we shall look back on these years and shall cherish their many pleasant memories. Perhaps, it will be the At Home that will stand out most clearly in our minds, or the Operetta, or more likely, the many rugby and basketball games! Foremost, too, in the minds of many of us will be that last hurried week of studying, the examinations, the successes and failures! What- ever it may be, we shall all remember that each succeeding year brought with it more pleasures, new friends, fresh difficulties which we struggled with and finally overcame. At the present time, being in our senior year, we are better able to realize our mistake in not using to the best of our advantage every opportunity which was offered to us to increase our knowledge. And so, if it is fitting to give advice to you who are just beginning your High School training, we would advise you not to make the same mistake which many of us have made, but rather to be real school citizens! Now, too, we realize more fully the debt which we owe to all of our teachers. In return for the knowledge which they have imparted to us, in return for the high examples which they have set and last but not least important, for the patience which they have shown with us, all we can do is thank them. With this in mind, the graduating class of '37 take this opportunity of thanking each member of the staff for his invaluable instruction and sound advice. The greatest desire of every graduating class is to achieve something worth while, which will be of importance to the school as a whole and by which their class may be remembered. For this reason, this year's graduating class point with pride to the successful inauguration of the Student Parliament. However, we have merely made a beginning and much of the success or failure of the parlia- ment depends on those students who are to follow. It is indeed during rather difficult times that we leave the protecting wing of the Collegiate to embark on the sea of life. Sorrie of the more fortunate will continue their studies in universities or in Normal schools. Others will go out to face the problems of life on their own resources. But whatever the future may hold for us, we are most fortunate in that we have received a splendid preparation Page Twenty one

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COLLEGIAN 1937. 1 STRATFORD, ONT. Sfbolazrffyfbf wp. X. 'M 3... .Ms . 1- ' MARGARET PLETSCH, Winner of the Waterloo Trust Scholarship at the Senior Matriculation Exam- ination, 1936. ERNEST SMITH, winner of the James Harris Scholarship offered by the University of Toronto at the Senior Matriculation Examination, and the Carter Scholarship for the County of Perth. RUTH COLCLOUGH, winner of the Muriel Bothwell Scholarship in Domestic Science, 1936. THE ONTARIO BOYS' PARLIAMENT During this school year, a great many hon- ours have been brought to the school through the successes of students in activities outside the school itself. Perhaps the greatest of these is the honour which Kenneth Ingham brings to the school by being chosen premier of the Seventeenth Boys' Parliament. Ken has been active in all school activities. He has proved indispensable to the rugby and hockey teams of the school: he has been a capable leader of the opposition in the school Parliament and he has shown high scholastic ability. Outside the school, he is well known for his activity in Tuxis and Trail Ranger groups. Ken was first elected to the Older Boys' Parliament three years ago, and since that time, has had a major part in each session. In the sixteenth session, he acted as leader of the Opposition, and at that time was elected to be the next premier. The importance of such a position can be realized only if some- thing is known of the Parliament itself. The proposal for an Older Boys' Parliament was first made by Professor Taylor Statten of Pickering College, Newmarket. The first Parliament met in 1919, and a session has been held annually ever since. The Parliament convenes in Toronto, the meetings being held either in the Building of the University of Toronto, or in the Parliament Buildings. The aims of the parliament, may be roughly grouped into three, to train the youth for democracy: to build up leaders of boys to be leaders of men in the future, and to foster clear logical thinking. The Parliament itself is the governing body of all Tuxis and Trail Ranger groups. It is organized on a non- party basis, and its members are nominated by the groups of organized boys. The can- didates for premier are chosen and voted upon in the final session of parliament, and the elected premier's runner-up becomes leader of the opposition in the next session. This gives the leaders a full year in which to prepare for their duties. The work of the parliament is satisfactor- ily exemplified by the activities of the six- teenth session. During that session, a Fin- ance Bill and an Organization Act were passed. At one sitting, liquor control was discussedg at another, the discussion of world peace proved to be one of the most interesting and heated debates of the session. The work of the Ontaro Boys' Parliament has been very successful in the past. We sin- cerely hope the coming season, with Kenneth Ingham at the controls, will be as successful. -Ivan Coleman Page Twenty-three