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

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The Classic June, 1911 gation composed of the Lion Hearts of Grade B. who under the leadership of their enthusiastic captain, R. S. Shaw, somehow pro- duced a huge rope, and in a very strenuous practice showed from the very word pull that they were winners. On the Friday evening about 7-45 p. m., a mighty host from the Normal, from the Collegiate Institute, and from the Business College gathered to witness the affray. On entering the Y. M. C. A., programs were given out which showed that the first item was the students' greeting in the reception hall. This proved a means ol getting acquainted with each other. The introducing of a few of the quiet bashful boys to such a host of amiable young ladies seemed to remove the thin veneer of stiffness that might otherwise have been exident. One lady in Grade A remarked on the difficulty in remem- bering the names of the boys, but of course it is unnecessary to mention any of the Hdiflicultiesn of the boys. About 8.30 the crowd might have been seen promenading to the beat of the harmonious strains of the city orchestra, wending their way up to the assembly room, where an excellent program was given by the Xormal School students. At this the ladies took a prominent part, proving again that music, song and eloquence do not wholly belong to the sterner sex. The last item, but oh, not least, was the sports in the gym- nasium. The first line up for tug-of-war consisted of the selected seven of the Collegiate against those of the Normal. VVith some pulling and shunting the Collegiate were forced to give way, and the Normal came off winners, but not conquerors. The next line up was between the Y. M. C. A- and the Business College. These two teams could truly boast of their skill at pulling the tug through continued systematic training and practice, but the well trained Y. M. C. A. septet was an easy opponent to the husky Business College Monsters, But now were to come the finals. The Normal, being the first winners, were to pull the Business College, the other happy victors- and it was a terrible contest, a hand and foot engagement, such jerking and slipping and sprawling! Terrible! Terrible! And those walls which had so oft before trembled and shook, now tuned their beams to the shrill screeches of the boys below accompanied by the silvery shouts of enthusiasm Pull! Pull ! that came from the ladies in the gallery, which if we had stopped to listen, would have proven very unlike the high and low Doll that had come from them on previous occasions. You would have thought that the tug was going to break. It held in bewilderment both spectators and judges. But, alas! in the end the College won. VVe are disappointed and could easily give a dozen good excuses for our failure, but Cheer up,', welll do better next time. Of course the girls all said we did nobly, but they had to say something. The task of seeing all the girls home that night loomed large -to the boys, and not wishing to show preference, they very rapidly dis- persed to their respective abodes. But now, forgetting that which gave such full enjoyment and forgetting that which gave such pain for the moment, and looking 20 ,

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O The Classic June, 1911 character of our pupils. To teach diligently and faithfully every subject in the public school course of study means that those boys and girls under our charge will have the tive senses of their being well developed. Perhaps no one is better able to judge the value of an all round development than a Normal School student. XYhat is the cause of these wailings over art, construction work and music? Is it not because in our childhood, our hands, eyes and ears have not had the privilege of that natural course of development neces- sary for the work of Normal School students. The privilege of re- moving these difficulties is in the control of the public school teacher. True this continuous round of duties becomes irlisome, the pupils' never-ending questions almost unbearable, and you feel that you must run away from it all. Yes, it means self-sacrifice to be a true teacher, but go a few years into the future and you see your reward. This fair Canada of ours will owe to you an inestimable debt of gratitude for the well developed intellectual citizenship of which she boasts. But not only in the school room does the teacher exert his or her induence- Ralph Connors school day type has not yet gone from existence, when the school master wields his innuence over the community in which he holds sway. Our personality should tend toward the elevation of intellectual and moral standard. That is what we stand for, and with Shakespeare we will say: So shall inferior eyes That borrow their behavior from the great Grow great hy your exalnple and put on The dauntless spirit of resolution. STUDENTS' NIGHT AT THE Y. M. C. A. T has been well said that success in the world depends more on energy than on information: and taking this to be true, how disas- trous the result if, from the life of the student, were blotted out those activities so essential to bodily welfare and so necessary to make intellectual training available in the struggle of life. But in this era of advancement on every side, in this century of increas- ing prosperity and growing promise, the world has not forgotten to raise the standard of a better and higher education: and thus the tendency today is to unite the desire of the learned Athenian for in- tellectual culture and refinement with tl1e ambition of his Spartan neighbor for vigour and physique. Thus we have come to realize the truth of the old maxim Mens sana in corpore sane. This athletic spirit first burst forth among the students of the Stratford Normal School on Tuesday morning when Dr. Silcox, our Principal, announced that we were to send a team of seven of our A'Stalwarts down to the Y. M. C. A. on Friday evening to compete in a tug-of-war against various teams of the city. A special dele- 19

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The Classic at the great benefits to be derived from the opportunity that is here given every some healthy and energetic exercise, and students of Stratford Normal School have June, 1911 all sports, let us grasp at one of us to take part in in conclusion say that the struck the right chord and have sounded the proper pitch when they have organized football, skating, hockey and basketball teams, so that the ladies as well as the men can find that recreation and enjoyment which supply re- newed vigor to the depressed and over--taxed brain. GREETINGS FROM GUELPH. ERE we are, sixteen of the jolliest, best behaved and most studious of the ninety-nine students at the O. A. C., sitting o11 the campus, listening to the warbles of bronze grackle, rose- breasted grosbeak and chipping sparrow, while the common Eastern Swallow Tail and Morning Cloak go Hitting by. But amid all these attractions, someway, somehow, our i1l1011glltS'T9i31lI'1'l to the aquarium and the insect boxes of the S. N. S. XYhen our muscles ache and our fingers twitch from too intimate association with the plane, saw and chisel. a longing is created for those simple tools, the ruler, scissors, liquid glue pot and cardboard. Yes, we are in a delightful spot, with all the characteristics of a. summer resort, including sufficient wholesome work to make life interesting. A prominent educationist said recently that it is a combination of city conveniences and country privileges. Our instruction is given in the various buildings in connection with the Agricultural College and in Macdonald Institute. The classes in Industrial Arts, consisting of the three departments, Art, Mechanical Drawing and XVoodwork, are held in machinery hall. You ask about the Art. Oh, yes, we have color charts in abund- ance, with great display and delicacy of colors. As you sit within the walls of the S. X. S. you may have visions of May fiowers, birds and green trees, and wish that you might roam among them. Such visions of ours have become a realization, as with butterfly nets, bug bottles and insect boxes, we march at the familiar tremendous rate, across the freshly sowed oat fields to the north woods and here receive Nature Study instruc- tion. Buttertiies, caterpillars and other insects a1'e becoming objects of admiration, as we gaze at their beautiful markings, magnified by the lantern. Our garden plots are places of wonder and interest as we watch the co-operation of soil and seed in the development of plant life. A new interest has been created for us in Bee Cul- ture, by two lectures given by Dr. Phillips of iYashington, who has portrayed it as a simple means of bettering one's financial standing in old age. Consequently, we have renewed hope. Now you are beginning to think how hard we have to work and how monotonous life must be. Not so: there is another side. The spacious dining-room wherein our abnormal appetites are so boun- 21