Stratford Normal School - Classic Yearbook (Stratford, Ontario Canada)

Page 14 text:

The Classic June, 1911 rather the means to the end which was the motive prompting the organization of this institution. To our country we are indebted and to our country we must contribute. It is the boys and girls of today who are to make the citizens of this fair Dominion, and it is our privilege to inculcate in the child life, a true foundation for education and the principles of a staunch Canadian citizenship. Already we find this Canada of ours a heterogeneous mass, and it will be the work of the public school teacher to weld it into a homogenous whole. 'We have learned to appreciate the correlation of the various branches of our course of study and to know something of their value: let us remain steadfast- to our educational doctrine and en- deavor to elevate such an ideal in others. This will require an effort, but the results will compensate for the sacrifice. Though we separate and our relations as teachers and students will cease, we go from here with a common aim to place a higher standard upon life's greatest things. XVhat is the grandest work of all? The work that comes every day, The Work that meets on every hand. ls the work which for us is truly grand And the love of work is our pay. XVhat is the grandest life of all? It is living day by day True to ourselves from dawn till night And the love of truth for our pay. VVhat is the grandest thing of all? ls it winning Heaven some day? No, and a thousand time No. 'Tis making this old world thrill and low YVith the sun of love: till each shall know Something of Heaven here below And God's lVell done for our pay. MABEL BAILEY, Valedictorian. CHARACTER AND ITS INFLUENCE. THERE is a structure which everybody is building, young and old, each one for himself--it is called character, and every act of life is a stone. If day by day we be careful to build our lives with pure, noble, upright deeds, at the end will stand a fair temple honored by God and man. But, as one leak will sink a ship, and one Haw break a chain, so one mean, dishonorable, untruthful act or word will forever leave its impress, and work its influence on our characters, and not only on our characters, but on the char- acters of those with whom we associate day by day. Our characters are composed of myriads of thoughts and acts. A subtle thing is character and a constant work is its formation. Let us, then, to the very best of our ability form an ideal character. 8

Page 13 text:

P The Classic June, 1911 VALEDICTORY. Like driftwood spars which meet and pass Upon the world's great ocean plain, So on the sea of life alas! Man meets man, meets and quits again. UH voyage on this sea brought. us to a port rich with those things which go to make life worth while. XYhatever our motives in taking this voyage may have been, while we have been anchored here, there has been instilled into our characters the true desire to elevate the teaching profession to the greatest height at- tainable. The supreme element in this process has been the strong characters who have been guiding our efforts towards the accom- plishment of this aim. It true we cannot see the end from the beginning, in no place has this proverbial statement. a truer interpretation than in a Normal School, which with its mnnerous avenues of study so bewildering in their multiplicity, leads on step by step to the development of teachers with improved methods, true aims and high ideals. Xiihat Arnold says is true, Man meets man, meets and quits again, but life cannot be quite the same after this meeting. So we know that as we leave Stratford Normal School there will go with us the iniiuence of the true and sterling character of our Prin- cipal, and of those affiliated with him who have each contributed in a unique manner to our development. In the Model School we have found teachers each strong in his or her individuality. Nor can two hundred and eight students associate for six months without leaving their imprint- upon the lives of one another. XYe have met here high types of culture and refinement, students whose bright optimistic nature has made our school atmosphere cheery ands wholesome, and those whose studious example has induced us to bend more earnestly to the end in view. Amid all this we have partaken of intellectual feasts, some of which have not been ex- celled in our previous experience, and we are grateful to the Depart- ment of Education for providing us with lectures which have been an unlift and a delight. A refreshing atmosphere has been created for us by the citizens of Stratford in their church and home life, thus developing the social element of our nature. Nor has this development been limited: under the supervision of the staff of this school, ideas aesthetic and social have been placed before us in the planning and conducting of our 'fAt Homes, which have been not only occasions of great en- joyment, but have also contained the element of education. The kind and generous hospitality, extended to us by Dr. and Mrs. Sil- cox, has proved an appropriate climax to all this pleasure. So our bark has been harbored in a healthful Zone and now we must hoist our sails and battle with the storm. But why has this port been endowed with such a wealth of opportunities? Is it that we may receive pleasure, a greater degree of culture, or a higher type of education? No, we are not the end in view, but 7

Page 15 text:

I The Classic June, 1911 The value of character is the standard of human progress. The in- dividual, the Community. the nation, tells its standing, its achieve- ment, its worth, its true wealth and glory in the eye of God hy' its estimation of character. Perhaps, you have been on the shores of a lake one day, when you carelessly threw a stone into the water. It splashed down into the depths of the Howing water-and that was all. No, it was not all. If we look at those eoneentrie rings, rolling their tiny ripples among the reeds, producing an influence slight, but conscious, to the very shores of the lake itself. So we hy our thoughts, words and deeds, are exerting a silent hut certain influence upon the world around us. It is thought that the greatest influence exerted upon others' lives is through our deeds, If we treat others kindly, honestly and uprightly they will invariahly treat us the same. A great influence is exerted hy the words of our lips. .X kind word spoken at the right time has often heen the means of inspir- ing a discouraged one to take hope again. Xlvhen a person speaks angrily to us we are prone to answer in the same tone, hut if we but answer that person kindly, it may he the means of making that anger disappear. The last but not the least influences of one's eharaet-er are those exerted hy our thoughts. XYe might ask the question: Have the thoughts of one any eileet on one's eountenanee? XVe should surely answer in the affirmative. lt our thoughts are Centered on that which is pure and idealistie, it will have a high idealizing effeet upon our lives. We might ask the question: XYho has the greatest intlueneef' I would say, the one who is heing taken as an example hy others. For instance, teachers, who have lives entrusted to their care day by day, have a marked intluenee on their eliaraeters. So, they. especially should aim at an ideal eliaraeter. In conclusion, I would say that we are all exerting a world- wide iniluenee greater than any of us eare to acknowledge, so- XYe can never he too eareful XYhat the seeds our hands shall sow, Love troin love is sure to ripen, Hate from hate is sure to grow. Seeds of good or ill we scatter, Heedlessly along our way, A glad or grievous fruitag-e YYaits us at the harvest day. Whatso'er our sowing he Reaping, we its fruits must see. And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truthsi XYin ns with honest triiles, to betray us In deepest consequence. 9