Victoria High School - Victorian Yearbook (Edmonton, Alberta Canada)

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President ' s Message 1963-64 Garnet Cummings When we were freshmen and entered the doors of Vic for the first time, we felt as though something very ) dear and personal had been left behind in the Junior High School that we had attended. This feeling, how¬ ever, is minute in comparison to the one that we now experience as we leave Vic. We are now Graduands and are again experiencing this feeling of regret at departure. This feeling is not sadness, but is more like a mixture of emotions that mean in reality thanks.” We, the Graduands, say thanks to the highly capable teaching staff, who, fortunately for us, have on many occasions, given a helping hand; we say thanks to the Administrators of both the Academic and Recreational Faculties who have devoted much time to extra cur¬ ricular activities; we say thanks to the Students’ Union, and Grad Representatives; we say thanks especially to our adviser, Miss Lent. Miss Lent is the prime factor in the success of this day. Thanks to all of you who have helped to make this year a memorable one. Allow me to leave you with these parting words by an unknown author. They may help you in building a firm foundation for the future: THE WRECKERS I watched them tearing a building down, A gang of men in a busy town; With a ho-heave-ho and a lusty yell, , They swung a beam, and a side wall fell. I asked the foreman, Are these men skilled, The men you would hire if you had to build?” He gave me a laugh and said, No, indeed! Just common labor is all I need. I can easily wreck in a day or two What builders have taken a year to do.” I thought to myself as I went my way, Which of these roles have I tried to play? Am I a builder who works with care, Measuring life by the rule and square? Am I shaping my deeds to a well-made plan, Waiting patiently doing the best I can? Or am I a wrecker, who walks the town Content with the labor of tearing down? —Anonymous Page 20

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Valedictory by BETTY FLAGLER I am very proud and deeply thrilled to have been chosen to speak today on behalf of the graduating class. I would like to say thank you” to my fellow students for giving me this opportunity to say thank you” to Vic. To most of us, in the atmosphere of this occasion, the word graduation” means to receive a diploma for fin¬ ishing a course — to say farewell — to part from Vic itself, as well as from the wonderful fun and friendships enjoyed there. Although it also means that we shall change, we must not feel discouraged. We should feel encouraged and challenged by the opportunity to show the gratitude we. feel towards our teachers and our parents. For it is they who have done so much to equip us, the artists, to paint the portraits of our characters. Before a good portrait can be completed, the artist must first have a deep understanding of his subject. He must make a preliminary sketch of his plan, and he must have ready at hand the proper materials with which to work. The training at Vic has provided us, the artists, with a high-quality canvas on which to paint our char¬ acters. This canvas will never fade nor crack — it is guaranteed for a lifetime! Before a good portrait can spring to life on this canvas, the artist must know how to mix his paints. Our teachers have taught us to be discreet individualists — that is, to mix colours not too bright nor too gaudy, yet not to hide behind convention nor pale shades. The insight, the inspiration to assess the person he is to depict on canvas, must come from within the artist—from his parents and his home. With¬ out this wonderful background of our homes, how many of us could have come as far as this—or could progress further? We have learned, too, the use of good planning for, to be good artists, we sketch before we paint. These sketches, which have often shown faults in our character, could be corrected at Vic before the final colouring of the portrait. Vic has given us the essential feeling of self-confidence to wield the paint brush with swift, sure strokes. Vic has taught us the patience, the perseverance, the determination we shall need, to transform our first sketches into the finished paintings on canvas, the por¬ traits of our characters. Life at Vic has helped us develop a depth of char¬ acter comparable to the three-dimensional effect of paint¬ ing that makes it look real and alive. Perhaps the lov- liest shade in our portrait will be the one produced by the relationship between staff and students. The ever available assistance of the teachers and their respect for the unlimited potential of the students at Vic have com¬ bined to teach us responsibility—to ourselves and to others—in short, to make us good citizens. But most important of all, Vic has taught us that life is not a number painting. Everything will not always fall int o its numbered section to fulfill our every dream. In these unpredictable situations, we must use the depth of character developed at Vic to its fullest extent to pro¬ duce that most outstanding portrait — the one of our future. In the future, we, as adults, will be thrust into many and varied situations to be judged by innumerable critics just as a portrait is tried in many different frames and evaluated by many art critics. It is a well-known fact, however, that a good portrait, such as one painted at Vic, looks beautiful even in the ugliest frame. A good portrait relies not on environment so much as on its basic colours for lasting beauty; we can depend on our Vic education to survive any change of frames. Soon, framed by our name and writing on an examina¬ tion paper, we will face some of the toughest critics we have yet met — namely, department examiners. This will be the culmination of our activities at Vic. But, as Winston Churchill said at El Alamein after the first major Allied victory in World War II, “Gentle¬ men, this is not the end — it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps the end of the beginning.” So, at the end of our beginning, we are leaving Vic, but we do so with the knowledge that Vic has given us a firm basis for life, and with the sincere hope that we and our friends will find our suited” frames in it. It is our prediction that, though the painters, subjects, and instructors will change, the materials in this school will always be of first quality. For the indomitable Vic spirit to succeed will always instill in its students the wonder¬ ful happiness it has given us. Page 21