1961 Magnet Yearbook

VALEDICTORY
Fred Keenan and Mr, Jewell
Mr. JeweN, Dr. Phimister, Members of
',the Bo,ard, Honoured Guests, members of
the g'l"aduating dass, ladies and gentlemen;
I feel it is a privilege for me, on
behalf ,of tlhis, the graduating class o,f
1960, to bid farewell to the five years we
have s,pent in the Jarvis community.
Perhaps it is rather symbolic that this,
Our official farewell par,ticipation at
Jarvis, takes phvce in this auditorium,
for, it wa;s in this very room that we had
our first glimpse at EfeatJarvis Collegiate.
On that day in September, 195,5,
about 300 students, fresh from public
s,chooil, rather timidly climbed ,tihe rotunda
stairs and tried to slip unnoticed into this
huge iball. We were t1hen to be introduced
to Mr. Jewell, the Principal, amd to Mr.
Allen, the Head of the Guidance Department,
as they explained 'Some of the
mysteries of high 'School Hfe to us. That
day marked the beginning of five years
that wiU be Iremembered witfu greater
pleasure than perhaps any other period
of OUr lives.
Now think back with me and reca.U
some of the happenings that have taken
p'lwC€ du,ring our stay at Jarvis. One of
these was our unprecedented doublle
ho,ckey ,and basketball championship in
19-57, wihioh was also the year of our
150th. anniversary; another was the opening
of the new wing in our first year.
Ano,ther outstanding event was the annual
Gilbe~tand Sullivan operetta: I am
sure we can still remember the feeling
of excitement that everyone had as the
big night drew closer - the cast were
polishing up their lines; the stage crew
was trying to huilda set tfuat resembled
a Japanese garden; the make-up crew
were ,app~ying Ilast touches; and the girls
h.andling wardrobes were frantically trying
to make sure everyone had a complete
co!stume. But all the troubles were
more than forgotten at the celebrations
afterwards at the Goilden Dragon! And
then, who can forget the United Appeal
football ticket campaign for whidh, each
Jarvis student pledged to sell five ticke.ts
-"so hdp me, Minerva!" In the spring,
our cadet corps ihe1ld its annua:l inspection,
t.he one time in the year when every
fellow in the scho'o! worked together on
the 'Same team. And then, there were the
memorable J'arvis dances, ranging from
the Beatnik Bopand J arvis' own Crazy
Eiglht, all tfue way to the music of Benny
Louis at the At-Home. Tonight, we
realize that these were only the superfidal
gleanings or the ,by-produc.ts of
something much deeper, something much
mOire a real part of the J.arvis we knew,
namely, a spirit of fellowship rather
unique in today's society. One of its most
remarkable :aspects was rthe fact tfuat over
t1hirty-one different nationalities repre­
~ented ,here at J arvis made tfuJisa truly
cosmopoilitan oommunity. For the real
education to be had ,at Jarvis was not
merely that of learning to speak French
fluently or how to draw ,the graph of a
quadrati,c equation, important as they are,
but thalt of tolerance and intelligent appreciation
of others' ideas and beiliefs,
and the ,ability to wo,rk together asa
team regardless of racial origins.
Some of you may now say, "All rig4ht,
I have 'Spent five years at Jarvis. So
what do. I have to slhow for it?" For those
W:ho leave here with nothing mo,re than
a diploma, I would say, very little. Mr.
Darbyshire, our former vice-principal,
expressed it most aptly when he 'said tJhat
benefits derived are equated to contributions
made. That statement applied to
ihig:h 80hoo'l, but we will find it even mOTe
true in the year.s to come. During our
s0hool years ,th€,re were nume,rous o.pportunities
for us to develop more personal
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