Westdale Secondary School - Le Raconteur Yearbook (Hamilton, Ontario Canada)

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Tenth Period What does Westdale Secondary School mean to you, fellow students? ls it just a large edifice that you visit five days a week for lack of anything better to do, or is it something more than that? If it isn't, it should bel Westdale is one of the largest and best-equipped schools in the British Empire, but only a small percentage of its hundreds of students appreciate and enjoy it. Yes, I said enjoy it , for going to high school is really fun if you do more than just sit in class exposed to education until four o'clock and then wander home. Some night when you have nothing else to do, hang around, and if you are in the right places at the right times, you may discover how the Westdalites with genuine school spirit enjoy themselves. Perhaps an intermittent banging will attract you to the basement where any number of boys are anxiously awaiting their turn-to fire ten rounds at the elusive bulls-eye. Many of them never even come close, but they all have fun trying. lf you stumble into the gym, you may see the members of the decorations committee transform- ing a basketball court into a ballroom for the next dance. They will likely be there until midnight, but they don't mind. The knowledge that they are doing something impressive and important for Westdale is a sufficient reward. Pls you leave the gym and head for the corridor, don't open the door too suddenly, you may hit a speeding member of the track team, who is training hard for the West- dale relay squad. Why don't you glance into a class room or two? They are not as empty as you think. ln one there may be a few students and teachers chuckling over literary contributions to the school magazine, in another, a few more en- joying a game of chessg and in still another, the orchestra or the choir happily preparing for the next assembly. Westdale is your school, fellow students: yours to enjoy and yours to be proud of. It offers to all its students opportunities for extra learning and pleasure, unsurpassed anywhere. How foolish it would be to pass them up! RGD. GRACIAS This year's magazine was produced with the usual blood, sweat, and tears on the part of nearly all concerned. We, the editors, would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to all the teachers and students who gladly spent so much of their valuable time in helping to make this year's magazine possible. H special note of thanks is due to Mr. Dunkin and Mr. Noad, our general advisors, Mr. McCord and the art depart- ment, Miss Smith and her advertising staff, the photography committee under Mr. Smith, and the Triune. 6

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EDITCDRIALS Are Young People Going To The Dogs? From time to time we are reminded sadly of the sins and shortcomings of the rising generation. -.Flre these remarks true? ls there hope for the world when it passes into the careless hands of the youth of today? Criticism of young people by their elders is by no means new. Evidences of this can be found in hieroglyphics on the walls of ancient Egypt or in the writings of Cicero. The world is passing through troubled times. Young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They talk as if they knew everything, and what passes as wis- dom with us is foolishess with them. These exas- perated sentiments of Peter the Hermit in the eleventh century could be matched in our current magazines and newspapers. Ever since the dawn of human history, two things have been happening, age has looked with dis- approval on the habits of youth, and youth has looked with disapproval on the views and prac- tices of age. These attitudes are probably due to different circumstances: for everyone is a product of his own locality and his own time. The manners and standards of conduct of the young people of today are not more widely divergent from those of their parents, than were their parents' standards from those acceptable in the Victorian era. ln this changing world of today young people have developed many good qualities. They are frank and forthright and meet difficulties with independence and initiative. Their tolerance of other races augurs well for world understanding. Young people are not deteriorating, with enthus- iasm and energy, they are preparing to accept their responsibility in promoting progress in their time. lVi.l.M, A Turn In The Rood Some of us have come to the top of a hill and the turn in a road-our last year in high school, To look back is to see in review a pleasant blur, of halls filled with students, their arms piled high with books, of assemblies, of classrooms and the hum of teachers' voices, of gyms and the darting figures in a basketball game, or to feel again the excitement of rugby games in crisp Octobers and ourselves a part of the cheering crowd. H life apart from this picture is hard to imagine. The job next year or the new school seem far in the future and yet already the things we don't want to re- member are fading-the examination room with its dreadful hush, the lost games, the reports not good enough, the detentions. Some things we can never forget. They will always be a part of us. We will remember grate- fully the teachers who believed in us and urged us to do better. We will remember, too, those teachers who tried to share with us an enthusiasm for their subjects. Perhaps the truth of the matter is that we will remember the people of Westdale, students and teachers. We can only hope that in future years none of them will have cause to be too dis- appointed in us. N.D.T. 5

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C LETTERS T0 THE EDITCJR Dear Editor: How often we have heard the statement that what Westdale lacks and needs most is school spirit! lt is, of course, true. But before that indefin- able spirit becomes a reality instead of merely a word, there must be a firm foundation built for it. There must be respect for the school, pride in, and loyalty for it, and the knowledge that one can find there more than just halls 'and classrooms, teachers and books. This is not easy to acquire. It cannot be attained by pleas, or demands, or pep speeches insisting that we must support this or that, or we lack school spirit. It must be entirely voluntary, or it cannot exist at all. lust as we must know before we honour a per- son that he is worthy of our respect, we must first know that Westdale is a school worthy of our spirit. Here at Westdale, there are many of us who criticize certain things about the school. This is a healthy attitude, for in those schools where there is not an opening for opinions, dissatisfaction lurks in every corner. Therefore, we should have a sympathetic ear for these criticisms. Many are correct and suggest simple remedies. Hll show that the students are interested enough in their school to want to improve it. We must first be proud of' our school, and from that school spirit will follow naturally. This Letters to the Editor column is a valuable addition to Le Raconteur . lt is a place for honest evaluation and praise where praise is due. It allows us to bring any faults we find into the open, air them, and decide on their importance. It is a stepping-stone toward that pride in a school that instills in its students school spirit. PHT ROBINSON, I 1-H. Dear Editor: The Prom of '51 was truly a wonderful occasion. The culmination of the year's social activity was held in a transformed gym, beautifully decorated and lightedfa transformation which took a great deal of work and time. Ht this point I imagine congratulatory words would be in order for the Dance and Entertainment Committee, but to extend them would be without any sincere measure of appreciation. I was present during the decorating of the gyms. I was there when the fantasy was dis- mantled, and I have never seen such disinteresi on the part of the hierarchy of the Entertainment Committee as was exhibited on those occasions. There were more people working on the event who were in no way connected with the committee than those who were. I am not condemning the com- mittee, only its leaders. lf it had not been for some of the executive of the Triune and Macs Bill Hamil- ton, there would have been no Prom simply be- cause of the laxity clearly displayed on the part of certain individuals. The tragedy of the affair is that congratulations are bestowed upon these undeserving people. Not here. We say thanks to those unsung kids who stayed up till one o'clock Thursday night: worked till six on Friday and re- turned at nine o'clock Saturday morning to clean up. Find, to those whose duty it was to boss the Prom we say-it was really a beautiful effort. Too bad, it wasn't your fault. BILL TITTENSOR. Dear Editor: On behalf of the Upper School students, we would like to offer a vote of thanks to all the teachers of the school, but, more particularly, to the Upper School teachers. These are the hard- working people, who, every year, devote so much of their private, as well as school time, in extra classes and the many extra-curricular activities of the school. Hlthough it may not always be appar- ent, the students really do appreciate this much- needed assistance, which is given to us so gener- ously by our teachers. Once again, may we, on behalf of the graduating class, offer our most sin- cere thanks to all the very hard-working teachers of our school. DONNQ MHBSHHLL, BON ROLLS.