Page 14 - 1960

10
These annual commencements; Variety Night; the dances; the Tudhope-Thompson Meet; the bus-trip we took to Midland a couple of years ago to see a football game; the hours spent in homework;
And the people we met: Our own Miss Clark; a French teacher named Bull; an English teacher called Watson; students like Mary Thompson, Don McFadyen, Howard Dolson;
And as we remember the names of the people we have known, one name leaps to the mind. We need hardly be reminded of his tenacity, of his spirit, of his perseverance. I would be remiss indeed, should I not mention the most courageous man any of us has ever known: The late Roy Feder.
Yes, many things have influenced us a great deal during our high school days. Although we have not been generally speaking,--how shall I say it--an intellectually eager class, we have, in the last four or five years, lea~nt much. We have spent our most impressionable years in this building; so that whether we now return to the district's farms, or the businesses of Creemore, Collingwood, or Stayner; whether we seek a career in a big city; or whether we go on, as they say, to higher education; our attitudes, our opinions, our likes, our dislikes, in short . ourselves will have been moulded in this environment, in this district, in this very building.
For the contribution they have made, we must thank our parents and teachers, the navigators whom we replace as we take over at the helms of our own ships. How helpful these two groups have been .
Perhaps it was not until the midway point in our high school years that we realized the influence our teachers have on us; perhaps not until later, perhaps not even yet do we realize the full contribution that these people, with whom we have spent the biggest part of our waking hours from September to June for the past 4 or 5 years, have made, not only to our knowledge, but to our characters.
And, we have a perfect right to thank ourselves. After all, as Helen Elliot remarks in her editorial in this year's Gleaner, which, incidentally, is one of the best this school has produced, one for which Helen and her staff deserve a great deal of credit, as Helen remarks, over 200 of us started out five years ago; thirty-three of us are finishing our fifth year tonight. In such a building as this one, in which all the conditions are conducive to learning, or supposedly conducive to learning is it not a tragedy that of over 200 students who began in Grade 9, only thirty-three are graduating. We must encourage the undergraduates to stay in school as long as possible; to stay in school not only for the much talked of material reward, but for the joy and beauty one assuredly finds in a serious quest for knowIedge.
As for the present situation, parents, teachers, and students, let us ask ourselves, "What is wrong?"
And so we have come to the end of our high school days, to the end of that stage in our Iives. And we now enter a new stage. It would be insulting of me to wish my classmates 'good luck'; it would be presumptuous for us to say that we will succeed no matter what happens. Let us enter this new stage with a sense of determination. Let us let our conscience be our guide. Let us attempt to some degree, to follow Roy Feder's example of perseverance.
It remains for me now to say "Goodbye."
Commencement
Commencement was held at the school on September 11, 1959. Rev. A. G. Smith gave the invocation, and Mrs. J.D. Taylor, a past president of the Ontario Educational Association and of the Ontario Home and School Association, delivered an interesting and thought-provoking baccalaureate address. Most of the evening was spent in the presenting of the many shields, scholarships, awards, and diplomas by teachers, members of the board, and representatives of clubs. The Student Council Academic Awards were presented by David Ell is and Pat Donald. Wi II iam Hawkins was the valedictorian.