University of Toronto Schools - Twig Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

Page 102 text:

THE TWIG their classmates. Gradually the club ven- tured into more ambitious efforts culminat- ing last year in a really splendid public presentation under Mr. Gill's direction, of Henry IV fPart Cnej. ln a recent compilation of U.T.S. grad- uates, it was revealed that over fifteen hun- dred boys have passed out of the Schools. These Old Boys are to be found in every walk of life. They have representatives on at least ten leading universities. lan Strachan, one of the original boys and a staunch friend of the Schools, is a member of the provincial legislature. Hugh Plaxton, who was school captain in l922-23 and one of the best athletes, and Denton Massey, nationally known for his work among young men, have recently been elected to the Dominion Parliament. Away back in the early days of the Schools, two brothers in the third form spent their spare time tinkering with a crude wire- less outfit. A few years ago these same brothers developed the batteryless radio re- Dizxrox RIASSEY .J . HUGH PLAXTON ceiver. Their name, Rogers, is now one to conjure with in the radio world. It has been remarked that, for some rea- son or other, U.T.S. graduates show a strong predilection for legal careers. For six suc- cessive years, the gold medallist at Osgoode Hall came from their ranks. The friends of the Schools have every reason to be proud of the part our Old Boys are coming to play in every department of Canadian life. For a number of years, a strong Parents' Association has given splendid support to a wide variety of school activities. ln pro- moting co-operation of Parents, Headmaster and Staff in their common concern-the mental, moral and physical welfare of the boys-the Association is performing a task. the importance of which cannot be esti- mated. During the years, death has taken its toll in our Staff. ln addition to Professor H. Crawford and Dr. Porter, we have lost Pro- fessor T. Crawford, one of the greatest teachers of Mathematics in Ontario, Mr. F. Van Every, a kindly understanding friend of the boys and a distinguished teacher of English and History, and Professor W. E.

Page 101 text:

THE TWIG ,lames Brebner who graduated in l9l3 and who is now on the stafl ol Columbia Univer- sity. Not a year has passed since Brebner's time that has not seen U.T.S. boys in the Scholarship lists. ln 1918 and again in I922, six scholarships were won by our boys. ln l929 and l93l, the boys did even better, winning seven of these awards. On four occasions a boy of U.T.S. has won the Prince of Wales Scholarship. The first winner was Andy Gordon in l9l5. Dick Horwood l9l6, Jack Stewart l9Z9 and Alf Goggio l93I, were the others who gained this coveted distinction. Besides these University Scholarships, innumerable college scholarships .have been captured by our boys. fu -I. B. BREBXER Four years ago, Harold Copp established an examination record, which, as far as we can learn, has never been approached by any other student in Ontario. That amazing youth, not yet arrived at his eighteenth birth- day, and with only one year in the Upper School, wrote on twenty of twenty-two cf the regular Upper School papers, captured First Class honours on eighteen of them and won several scholarships. While these in- dividual records have been a source of pride to friends of the Schools, the general examination results have also been most creditable. Last june, the boys of our Middle School passed in over 953 of the papers, and in the Upper School on over 92 ' . . While the business of learning must al- ways receive the greatest emphasis, it has been the aim of the University Schools to provide wholesome physical exercise in the way of sports of all kinds. The ideal has been to have the greatest possible number of boys actually playing games, rather than to develop small groups of stars. However, out of all these activities, championship teams have occasionally sifted. ln l9l5, l925, and 1933, our Rugby team proved to be the best interscholastic team in Ontario. ln l9I8, our Hockey team won the Canadian junior Hockey Championship, the outstanding achievement in our athletic annals. The team consisted of Jack Aggett, Captain and centreg Joe Sullivan, goal: Dunc Munro and Lanky Rowell, defense: Steve Green and Don Jeffrey, wings: Don Gunn and Jack Kearns, alternates. This famous team coached by Frank Carroll, lost but two games in more than twenty played. Several strong swimming teams have been developed that have proved more than a match for their competitors. Our tennis players are among the best in the province. Basketball, boxing, wrestling, gymnastics and field sports have all Hour- ished. Much of this part of our school work has been carried on under severe handicap. Until l924, we had no gymnasium, pool or auditorium. Even yet there is a sad lack of playing fields. An efficient Cadet Corps is another activity that has always played an important part in school life. Some years ago, a number of the boys organized a Dramatic Club, under the fatherly guidance of Mr. Phillips. At first. their productions were limited to one-act plays, sometimes farces, sometimes thrilling melodramas, put on for the delectation of

Page 103 text:

THE TWIG Macpherson, who as a member of the original staff was an inspiring teacher of History, and later, lecturer in the College of Education. Each of these made notable contributions to the success of the Schools. We mourn, too, the passing of a number of our graduates who were taken on the threshold of useful and honourable careers. Among these we recall Allan Crawford, the youthful but heroic leader of that ill-fated expedition to Wrangel lslandg Maurice Cody and George Lucas, who each gave his life in the effort to save anotherg William Brebner and jack Hendry who, under strangely similar circumstances, contracted fatal illness while engaged in medical research: John Copp, whose tragic passing two years ago shocked the whole province. Splendid lads, all of them. Twenty-five years have passed into his- tory-years crowded with incident and blessed with achievement. ln the beginning an experiment, the University of Toronto Schools have proved worthy of the honour- able name they bear and have fulfilled the prophecy implied in Headmaster Crawfords happy adaptation of the motto Velut Abror aevon of the University of Toronto. in the motto of these Schools, Velut Arbor. ita Ramusf' J.G.W. ,JR Sq ' ,ut 'Q Klembers of the original stall who are still associated with the Schools: Front row: Klr. Irwin, Professors Ferguson, Cornish, Carlisle, Coombs. Back row: Klessrs. Scarrow, lVorl-Lman, Bramfitt, Grainger.