University of Ottawa - Annuaire Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

Page 12 text:

TAWA NORMAL SCHOOL YEAR BOOK GNN-7 19 Miss M. K. CLIFFORD. M.A., B. Paed. G- R- SMITH- B-A- MISS M. G. N. IRVING. B.A. T. A. BROWN l61

Page 11 text:

OTTA WA NORMAL SCHOOL YEAR BOOK ow 1928 Our Re5p0mz'bz'lz'rz'e5 as Teczclaery BY REv. R. LAMOUREUX, B.A., Ph.D., Principal, Bfzlmgual Normal School orraw.-x UNIVERSITY OUR teaching will be an asset to society and not a liability according to the measure in which the responsibilities involved are realized and discharged. A better knowledge of the duties incumbent upon you as teachers, and more particularly as Canadian teachers, will urge you on to a better performance of your task. Your first duty is to instil in the minds of your pupils a taste for study. Intellectual effort is the dread of our time. Real study has given way to light reading. VVe are more interested in facts than in concepts and theories. Glaring head- lines are preferred to editorials. To dispense ourselves from the painstaking process of per- sonal investigation, ready-made judgments, as handed out by the press in its various forms, are absorbed in enormous quantities. Scholarship and culture are on the decrease. Such a state of intellectual apathy is most detrimental to the best interests of Canada. History bears witness that the influence of nations is determined by their culture. Mind will always dominate matter. The responsibility of imparting this culture rests with the teachers. They must first possess it. When the teaching body of any country ceases to possess and to hand down as a sacred inheritance that incomparable treasure ing and culture, that nation begins journey down the highway of decad.ence. A second duty is to enkindle in the your pupils a true Canadian spirit. Nations soar to heroic achievement or descend to vulgar mediocrity according as patriotism strongly or faintly beats in human souls. A patriotic educa- tion is all the more urgent in Canada that the .very existence of a Canadian spirit is threatened. We are daily in contact with American publi- cations, songs, plays, dances, etc., and are being influenced by them. A real Canadian state of mind isbeingtransformed through this daily con- tact with the various manifestations of American thought and art. It is your duty as Canadian teachers to counteract this growing evil. Another danger is sectionalism. Canada be- cause of its immensity presents great geographi- cal contrasts. These divergencies create amongst the inhabitants of the many provinces divergent interests. These oppositions may easily lead to strife. Our patriotism should be vast enough to embrace the nine provinces. Canada was built up by two great peoples. The actual descendants of these two illustrious l of learn- its sad souls of nations, though living side by side, are both desirous, and quite legitimately so, of preserving their national customs and traditions. Here again is an opportunity for dissension. It must be obviated. If one love Canada with his whole heart and soul it little matters whether he be of English or French origin. The teachers can bring about this unity. Unity is to be fostered through a more intimate knowledge of one another by the members of both races. A better mutual acquaintance, a deeper comprehension of one another's view- point, a keener knowledge of the other's peculiar qualities can lead but to a deeper sympathy and appreciation of one another. This can be done by the teacher especially through the teaching of Canadian history. Therein the English-speaking pupil will find the French-Canadian heroes with all their racial traits, just as the French-speaking pupil will meet the illustrious characterization of English qualities. Loving Canada, the pupils will necessarily love those who made it what it is. Your responsibilities as teachers are great and the end to be achieved is of such import that nothing should stay you in your efforts. Mesxage from Dr. fozzes He who surrenders himself lo a great ideal bemmes great , N September 1927 we met as strangers. During the intervening months we have worked together and learned to esteem one another as friends. The year has been filled with varied experiences. VVe have laughed and lamented: we have toiled and triumphed: we have looked for the best in others, and given the best we had ourselves: and we have learned that the true teacher must be ruler of himself and servant of mankind. You are entering upon a profession that holds out for you a rich reward though it offers little in the way of wealth or fame. You may have to live in obscurity and contend against ignorance and folly. But in quickening the indolent, encouraging the backward, and strengthening the weak, you will light many candles that will brighten your pathway in later years-this is your reward. Your lives are not in the past but in the future. You will achieve success if you live well, laugh often, and love much. Success not measured by great deeds, but by little acts of kindness performed by those who scatter happiness on every side and strew all life with hope and good cheer. Goodness is better than gold, character surpasses intellect. With just such comrades, just such friends, lVe fain would walk till the journey ends.

Page 13 text:

OTTAWA NORMAL SCHOOL' YEAR BOOK ctw 1928 The Opening of Parliamem' AGEANTRY and pomp marked the Opening of Parliament on Thursday. January the twenty-sixth at the Dominion Parliament Buildings, Ottawa. Two days of drifting snow with a climax of a cold, sunny day, gave a realistic background for the historic rite which was eagerly awaited by several young students. The seven delegates and three mem- bers of the staff were welcomed cordially by the uniformed guards at the door with the pass- word Normal . They were escorted to the General Gallery of the Senate Chamber and had a splendid opportunity of seeing the ladies and gentlemen take their places in the room below. The gowns and feathers worn by the ladies added a bright touch of colour to the scene. Shortly before three o'clock the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod came in, followed by the Sergeant at Arms with the Mace of the Senate, and the Speaker with his attendants. A message came from the Governor-General's Secretary to announce the arrival of His Excellency at three o'clock. Then came the Judges of the Supreme Court who sat on the red plush wool sack. Her Excellency, Lady Willingdon, accompanied by ladies-in-waiting and pages, was escorted by Premier Mackenzie King. His Excellency, the Governor-General, who is the personal representativeof KingGeorge, entered with an imposing procession, and in a dignified manner took his seat on the Throne. The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod was despatched to the House of Commons to invite the members up to hear the Governor-Generals message. He must knock for admission and the Commoners, as a symbol of their independence. decided whether they would admit him. Hon. Mr. Rodolphe Lemieux was the Speaker of the House of Commons and Hon. Mr. Bostock was the Speaker of the Senate. The Commoners took their places behind the bar which served as a division between the two. The Governor- General read his speech first in English and then in French. The Cabinet Ministers really com- posed the Speech from the Throne. It contained an outline of the work to be done in the coming year in the House of Commons. His Excellency congratulated the members of the House of Commons on the prosperous condition of Canada and referred to the visit of the Prince of VVales, Prince George and Premier Stanley Baldwin. The Commoners returned to their Chamber where Bill Number One, the ancient dummy bill, was read for the Hrst time. This was a gesture of the Lower House to proceed, if it wished, with matters other than the Speech from the Throne. After Lord and Lady Willingdon and the judges had left the room, the Senate was opened for business. Four new senators were intro- duced and required to take the oath of allegiance. This visit to the Opening of Parliament served to inculcate in the minds of those present a real pride in their young nation. They could not help being impressed with the splendid manner in which business was transacted and with the reports of the prosperous condition of Canada. The Governor-General, who performed his duties in a very efficient manner, deserves the deepest respect of all Canadians. JESSIE E. DOAK. CN F arew ell to Mr. Brown U R music master, Mr. T. A. Brown, is leaving the Normal staff at the end of june after over forty years of faithful services in the teaching profession, thirty of which have been spent in the Normal School itself. I am not worthy of the honour, but I shall try to express the sentiment of the student body. Mr. Brown chose a worthy profession and honoured it by his choice. Never afraid to do the work not demanded or expected of him, he has toiled faithfully to add to the efficiency of the graduating teachers. When tired or ill,or when the time was out of his working hours, Mr. Brown never hesitated to give help to a be- wildered student or sympathy to one who was downcast. Ever ready with a smile or a joke, he has hidden his own difiiculties and troubles while making others forget theirs. If a teacher's influence is far-reaching how much more is that of a teacher of teachers! VVhat one of us, coming from Eastern Ontario schools, does not recall some song which can be traced to Mr. Brown? Such service as he has rendered the public can scarcely be estimated or appreciated. If a man know not his debt, how can he pay it? No material recompense can repay him, no empty words can cancel our debt, but he holds something better than either of these. He is enshrined in the hearts of men as a brother worthy of their love and appreciative of their friendship. I truly express the thought of the student body when I say that we feel we cannot thank him sufficiently for his services. These we may not be able to appreciate until we are teachers ourselves, but we do leave our sincere sympathy for the class of 1928-29, who will have no Mr. Brown. We, the class of 1927-28, with the shadowy ghosts of every other class with which he has come in contact, join in wishing him a perfect and a well earned rest. May all his dreams come true, may his castles in the air become realities, may his health return in the course of time, and may he live many years to enjoy all these, and to see the multiplying fruits of a work well done! A STUDENT. l7l