Tillsonburg District High School - Tatler Yearbook (Tillsonburg, Ontario Canada)

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VALEDICTORY ADDRESS by Donald M. Dean Cmrunem-cmcvvf, December 3, 1948 My purpose here tonight is to say good- bye to T.H.S. on behalf of my classmates, the graduating class of 1948. We who received our diplomas here tonight look back-and we shall look back more and more as we go farther and farther from T.H.S.--on achievenments of the past five years, academic achieve- ments. I remember when I was the only one in the class with the correct answer, that was in first form. And we remember extra-curricular achievements, the rugby and basketball games, 'field day and the cadet inspection, assemblies and, of course, commencement. In a comparatively short time you too will be looking back when you think of T.H.S. But while we shall all remember the old school, many of you will remember a new school. Many will remember the commercial class and the joys of translat- ing shorthand. And there will be other memories that we who leave you now shall not be able to remember. We remember T.H.S. because it was there that we received the most valuable part of our education. Professor John Stuart Blackie tells us that only One thing is needful. It is not money or power or even cleverness, but character alone, a thoroughly culti- vated will, is the one thing that is need- ful. And it is in high school that most of our character develops. This is the most valuable part of our education. If we haven't developed much character be- fore we leave high school, the chances are we never shall develop much. Some of us ask, Is it really necessary to go through high school? Can't we get along without our Senior Graduation diploma? And the answer is, of course you can. You can get along without going all the way through high school. You can even get an education outside of high school by working in a store or on a farm. However, the high school graduate has this advantage: he can always get an unskilled job if he wants one. But the person who leaves before graduation can- not get a graduate's job. The unsatisfied person will be the one who finds that there 24 is one job he would rather do than any other, and cannot do that because he lacks the education. This reminds me of a story. Once there were two little boys, Bobbie and Joe, who lived with their grandmother in a little stone cottage near the coast. Every day they would ask their grandmother if they could go out and play, and every day their grandmother would say, You may play around the house and you may play in the garden, but don't go down to the sea- shore, because the tide might come in. So every day they would play around the house and they would play in the garden, but they never went down to the seashore because the tide might come in. Then one day Bobbie said to Joe, Let's go down to the seashore. And Joe replied, Oh, no, we mustn't do that, because the tide might come in. But if we watch really closely, we can get out of the way before the tide reaches us, said the other. So the two little boys went down to the seashore and started to play on a little mound way out on the beach. And while they were playing, the tide crept in .and surrounded the little mound on which they wer playing. When they were ready to come home they found that their way was blocked, and all the time the water was creeping closer and closer, and by the time the water was trickling around their toes, they had become very frightened. Then they looked up, and there, way up on the bank far above them, there was their grandmother, and they both cried out, Grannie! And Grannie looked down, and there were her two little grandsons way out on the seashore with the water rising higher and higher all the time. And they cried. Grannie, help us. And she replied Well I can't do very much, boys. I can't swim very well and I haven't any rope with me. Then she said, But what are you doing out there? Didn't I tell you not to go down to the seashore ? Yes, Grannie. Well didn't you know that the tide would come in? Yes, Grannie. Well what was the matter then, didn't you know what the tide would be like ? THE TATLER

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GRADE XIII, 1948-1949 BACK: J. Eppel, G. Teall, R. McCurcly, D. Sykes, R. Mason, D. Ashman, A. Slama, J. Nichols J. Longstaff, K. Webster, E. Steele, W. Fletcher, N. Rokeby. CENTRE: M. Heibert, M. Howey, E. Tait, L. Turner, E. Tillson, M. Milmine, J. Solcak, D. Wickham E. Collings, H. Brown. FRONT: M. Sandham, F. Scott, M. L. Gross, D. Neale, H. Sponics, M. Scanlan, N. More, D. Dean Q ',, I :-:- -IQV ... V ' f Q , .,.. ...gf -V-2 - . EI: ,. Qw 3. . ,. ,: ,. . -Q: -I H , -.:,,:E:,-E., is K Q . .,:Er.' TI' m y E Y V, .. i s lam? R H 1 :.,.. A y W . . D F I I :1.,... A- -V TOP: P. Grocey, D. Eckel, A. Garnham, J. House, G. Hollier, D. M. Dean. CENTRE: M. Howey, H. Wilkinson, J. Strobel, B. Sinden, N. Jones. BOTTOM: M. Naylor, J. Gurklys, A. More, J. Scrimgeour, G. Holmes, J. Weelxes. THE TATLER zzn

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No, they cried, no, we didn't know what it would be like. We didn't know how wet and cold it would be, how terrible it would be. We didn't know. Well, said Grannie, you know now. Opportunity is knocking at your door. The magnificent education systems and universities across the Atlantic are no longer as nearly perfect as they were be- fore the first world war. Today they are available only to those of great financial backing. But here in Canada today, a fine educa- tion is within the grasp of everyone. And no one can get a better education than the students of T.H.S. Tillsonburg District High School has an excellent staff. Already in my short stay at the university I have noticed the differ- ence in attitude between my former teachers and my present professors. The professor teaches a lesson. That is all. But your teachers are interested in YOU. You may get tired of their telling you how hard the outside world is, sometimes. I used to get tired of it until one day it was explained to me in this way: We who are young have never been old, but they who are older have been young. They have doubtless made mistakes. That is why they are so anxious for us to succeed. And you have an excellent high school board, the Tillsonburg- District High School Board. I had the privilege last year of attending a number of meetings of this board, and believe me, the prob- lems that you have in algebra and analytic geometry are nothing compared to some of the problems that came up before that board. It seemed to me as I sat there and watched them that every letter they received was sealed with red tape. But they took an admirable attitude to the whole thing. It was sort of like this: Well, this is obviously an impossible situation. It's just one of those things that can't be done. So let's get to work, it will probably take us a bit longer than if it were possible. And you would be surprised at the amount of red tape that ended up in the wastepaper basket by the time that the meeting was over. Now there has been quite a bit of im- patience about getting the new school that is now in sight. The members of the High School Board are just as impatient to get that school as anyone-but at least, they are doing something about it! THE TATLER And why are they doing all this? It's not likely that they will be using the school as much as some of you, and it certainly isn't the wages that they get for their troubles. The spirit of these men I thought was expressed at one of the meetings last winter. One of the members had been asked to clear up some matters on the school bus transportation problem, by interviewing a member of the Depart- ment of Education in Toronto. A second member, realizing how much time and work was involved, said to him, It's too bad that we have to ask you to do this. You won't be getting as much out of this Job as you get from some of your big 31,000 deals. Ah, but there you are mistaken, said the first. My pocketbook won't grow any fatter, it's true, but when I know that some of the students in this district that were unable to attend a high school before, will now be able to come here, and without expense, then I shall get more out of this than I ever get from any business deal. It is men like that, fellow students, whom you have working for you. You can get along without going all the way through high school, but when you have a staff of teachers and a high school board that takes a genuine interest in YOU, when you have such people as these working for you, it would be a shame not to take advantage of their labour. Since you are in Canada, and since you are in fContinucd on Page 70j 25