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

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THE T TATLER BUSINESS STAFF STANDING: Miss Grieve, R. Gibson, R. Heckadon, K. Webster, Mr. Moore. SEATED: J. McQueen, L. Law. Iimlitm' ..,............... .Xssistzmt Iliclitm' ..... ,Xlumni .................... I'rosv :xml Ificliun .... Iluys' Sports ......... Iiirls' Spimrts .... I.IlIlgllZlgK'9 ...,............. I'm'l1'y :mil IIIITIUUIIS Music ................... Ilumuui ......... l'liotogf1':1pliy ......... .. Ilusim-ss AIZIIIZIQICI' .... .Xclvcrtisiiig ................. Xrlvisci' to llusiiicss S I.11 tzllf TATLER STAFF .........I:IlI'j' Klillvr, XII .............'Xl1ll IDI-zm, XII Ilmizllcl Sylccs, XIII .Ivan Sc1'ii11g'c-oiir, X I I I ......IJ0llQ'I?lS Ifclccl, XII .AIIIVIIXII Stilwell, XIII ......IQIL'IIIlI'fI slonvs, XII ..........lfrlitI1 Kluml, XII .......lCIiz:1Imc'tIi Simmons, XII .......IIlCII1Ll'fI liokclmy, XIII ........ROllZlItI l'1'iclu-tt, XIII Ilcclczulmi. XII IC AICQIICCII, l.0is I.:1w, licn. XYcIrslci', Iliclc Iiilmsmi Xrlxisci to lzclitors ., ...... ATLER ...... Miss Grim-vc

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TATLER EDITORIAL STAFF STANDING: D. Sykes, E. Simmons, D. Eckel, J. Scrimgeour. SEATED: R. Prickett, R. Jones, G. Miller, A. Dean. ABSENT: M. Stilwell, E. Moon, R. Rokeby. EDITORIAL 'lihis 'l'atler brings with it a note of sad- ness . . . of fare-well. lVith the ending of the 1949-50 term, we mark more than the end of another school year-we mark the end of classes in the Tillsonburg High School building-old 'l'.l'l.S. which has for fifty-six years, since 1893, been Alma Mater to lumdreds, yes thousands, of Tillsonburg's youth. From these fading brick walls, through the worn portals, have passed gen- erations of local students: some to glory and honor, some, perhaps, to obscurity, but all have carried with them the memories of happy moments and bright days spent with- in the shelter of her walls. To these ex- students, through the eternal gift of mem- ory, the 'l'.H.S. they knew will live on al- ways. llut we, 'l'illsonburg's present pupils, go to a new building whose solid, shiny en- 18 tranees and unmarred walls are empty of the tradition and memories that distinguish- ed her predecessor-for we go to the new Tillsonburg District High School. Only the slow, solemn march of Time can fill these new halls and classrooms with rieh tradi- tions and history. XVhat, then. can we take to our new Alma Mater? ls there some precious gift from this symbol of past days that can be given to the present and the future? There is one thing that only students can transplant in the new 'l'.lD.l'l.S. That is spirit-School Spirit-the never-say-die fighting spirit that carried so many 'l'.ll.S. teams in the past to glorious victories and honorable defeats. Let us retain this oltl spirit as we go forth to compete for our new sovereign, to bring her laurels on the athletic field, the debating platform, and in all school activities. Let us remember this tfontinued on Page -l3j THE TATLER

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Tillsonburg High lt is entirely fitting as we leave behind this old outer shell of T.H.S.-as we are moulting, as it were-that we glance back through the years to its conception, crea- tion and growth. lt was during the last quarter of the nineteenth century that the need for more advanced education in Tillsonburg came to be realized. A movement for the establish- ment of a high school here was led by Dr. L. C. Sinclair, and in 1886, T.H.S. first came into being. Four classrooms were added to the public school building, and two of these were placed at the disposal of the high school board. The Honourable G. VV. Ross was invited to visit the town, and lend his influence to assist so important a step. At first only two teachers were employed, A. VV. Reaveley, HA., principal, and Stephen Bnrwash, l3.A., assistant. Later Mr. A. E. Raynes of the Kensington Art School, Lon- don, England, was engaged to teach draw- ing two days a week. The sum of one hundred dollars was de- voted to the purchase of scientific apparatus and reference library. On the opening day in September, 1886, about twenty pupils resident in the town, and nearly as many from the surrounding country presented themselves for enrolment. . By 1893, Tillsonburg High School had so won the confidence of the people of the town, that a vote of the taxpayers authoriz- ed the erection of a separate building for its use. A site for this proposed building was donated by the late E. D. Tillson, and on january 1, 1894, the new structure was ready for use. lt was only the centre sec- tion of the present school which comprised the earliest T.H.S., and its opening necessi- tated the engaging of a fourth teacher to act as second assistant to the principal. The first principal held that post for eight years, and was succeeded by J. li. Minus. From the beginning the enrolment of the school has gradually increased each year, and more than forty years ago the situation was such that the present west wing had to be added to the original building. Again in 1922, a need for more space forced the con- struction of the east wing containing gym and laboratories. For a number of years the larger of the two rooms on the second floor of this section was used as an assembly hall 20 X School 1886-1950 until equipment was installed to make it the junior Lab some fifteen years ago. lly 1930, enrolment was still on the up- surge, and had reached the 220 mark. An old edition of the Tatler notes with interest that during the 1930-31 term, there were twenty-five more boys than girls at T.H.S.! Prior to Wlorld XYar ll, the Board was again moved to attempt to combat over- crowding in the high school by the ever- growing number of students seeking educa- tion here. The early years of the '-10's saw the growth in popularity of the school-bus system. Young people from outlying areas who in former years would often have had to either board in the town or forego the benefits of attendance at T.H.S. now found the high school easily accessible by bus. By the end of the war, Tillsonburg High School was virtually bursting its seams to such a degree that the need for still more classroom space meant another addition. ln january, 1947, the new three-room annex was ready for occupancy. This action re- sulted in the first local step toward the modern trend in diversified high school eur- riculums-a choice between general or com- mercial course. However, the annex provided only tempo- rary relief, for exactly twelve months after its opening the plan for a high school dis- trict went into effect. The addition of more students from the surrounding townships and later the village of Vienna shot enrol- ment figures to an unprecedented peak in Tillsonburg's history. On january 1, 1948, our Alma Mater was no longer Tillsonburg High School, but rather Tillsonburg Dis- trict High School. The plans for an entirely new school which had been slowly developing for sev- eral years were now speeded up. Everyone talked about and longed for the new school, and finally in june, 1949, plans for an ultra-modern i5575,000 structure began to be carried out by the Foundation Company of Ontario on a new fourteen-acre site on Tillson Avenue. Thus, Tillsonburg's old high school has grown from two rooms, two teachers and forty students to a building of twelve class- rooms, a faculty of thirteen and an enrol- ment of 450. Next year's T.D.l'l.S. will THE TATLER