The Huron Expositor, 1975-04-17, Page 45Familiar faces? SCI students in 1934
SCI before WW 1 had personality all its own
by W.G.Strong
As part of the celebrations associated with
Seaforth's Centennial, it is interesting to note
that school reunions are being planned for
Monday, June 30. Doubtless provisions will
be made for luncheons to be served in
quarters spacious enough to accommodate the
many former students who attended the
Collegiate Institute years ago and who will be
' returning to reminisce and share experiences.
One group might be composed of those who
attended prior to 1915. A second group could
include those enrolled between 1916 and 1945
with a third for those registered after 1946.
"I hear again their noisy glee,
I join once more their sports and plays,
And, o'er the, chords of memory,
Sweep tender thoughts of boyhood days.
But where are now those old schoolmates
With whom I conned my lessons o'er,
To learn a task of rules and dates
Or stand a culprit at the door?
Far removed have fallen their lines.
That ne'er on earth" shall -cross again;
Yet memory their form enshrines,
Their virtues in the heart remain."
(Lincoln)
Every school has a personality all its own.
Be it 'sunny in disposition or wintry in
bleakness, there is no other such school in the
whole world. Seaforth Collegiate Institute, six
decades ago and more, was a solid,
two-storey, grey brick structure with lines of
red brick to ,enhance its doors and windows.
There were three classrooms and staff
quarters on the ground floor with two
classroodis, science laboratory and assembly-
hall•on the second. When commercial classes
were established this room lost its original
identity. When one compares the old building
with' the new, one recalls the absence of a
library, an art room, lockers and other
facilities new considered so essential. Oh, yes,
there was a gymnasium; a frame building
heated by a jacket heater in winter. It boasted
such equipment as a horizontal ladder, a high
bar, parallel bars, spring-board, horse,
punching bag, boxing gloves and some
well-used mats. Each session began with a
series of Strathcona exercises followed by the
use of the available apparatus. The class was
divided into small groups and assigned to the
respective areas. When a loud blast on the
instructor's whistle announced it was time to
rotate, each group moved up always' in
clock-wise fashion. All exercises were carried
out in civies.Gym accoutrement was frowned
upon since there was no dressing room. Bill
Dafoe. however, wore trunks under his
trousers on gym day and, thus• freed,
displayed his ability as a gymnast having
30—THE HURON EXPOSITOR, APRIL 17, 1975
attended a private boys' school at Woodstock
prior to enrolment at Seaforth where his sister
was a staff member. Some said he could
almost make the punching-bag talk back at
him.
There were in those days, as today, lazy
schools, complacent schools, strenuous
schools, plain schools and fancy schools: Old
timers can adjudge for themselves into which
category ours fitted. Modern buildings with
spacious classrooms, elaborate heating,
lighting and , ventilating systems, library,
cafeteria, auditorium, lockers, showers, the
latest in industrial shops and facilities for
home economics do little for the school's
character. It has been said that stone walls do
not a prison make, nor a school. Many a
beggarly soul is arrayed in purple and fine
linen and many a rare spirit is clothed in
rags.Education is a human relationship and
depends upon the mind and heart of the
teacher for its very exjstence.Thus it was and
ever shall be. A mediocre teacher surrounded
though he may be by all the accessories that
the thought of man may devise and that
money can buy will inevitably produce a
mediocre school. True advancement comes
from the play of character on character more
than on the splendour of the school's physical,
environment.
Student Body
The student body, then as now, was drawn
from a large rural area in addition to those
from the local public and separate school.
Girls and boys came from Beechwood, St.
Columban, Dublin, Staffa, Cromarty,
Chiselhurst, Hensall, Zurich, Hillsgreen,
Kippen, Brucefield, Varna, Bayfield,
Roxboro, Kinburn, Winthrop, Walton,
Brussels and as far away as Jamestown. There
were no school buses and few automobiles.
Those from a distance made use of rented
accommodation in town either in quarters
supplying room and board or a room with the
privilege of sharing kitchen facilities. They
arrived on Monday morning and were picked
up on Friday following dismissal. Those
residing within a five mile zone drove to
school using a horse and buggy or horse and
cutter depending upon weather conditions.
Rural roads were not ploughed as they are
today' and travellilng conditions were
unpredictable. A bran-sack packed with hay
and a flour-sack with its quota of oats formed
an essential part of the luggage summer or
winter. Stables and barns wtihin a few blocks
of the school provided shelter. Some
hitch-hiked depending upon farmers wagons
or sleighs coming to or returning from the
local mills. Those living in Egmondville and
Harpurhey delighted to ride en the-runners-of-
the cutters in winter. However some farmers
with a mean disposition often speeded their
animals as they approached these wayfarers.
In late spring and early fall thos7who were
fortunate to own a second-hand bicycle
pedalled through layers of dust on the
concessions, the Kippen Road, the Mill Road,
the Huron Road and the North Road.
Those students enrolled from outside the
municipality of the town had to pay a term fee
of something like two dollars per month.
These were paid at Alex Wilson's Drug Store
and our receipt had to be presented to the
principal for his signature. If 'one were tardy
with the tuition payment, his or her name was
posted on the bulletin board much to the
embarrassment of the delinquent. No free
text-books were provided and all school
supplies were purchased at Wilson's or
Winter's stationery store. Later Miss Th
ompson and her brother dispensed these
necessities in a most kind and friendly
manner. As prescribed or authorized text-
books did not change as frequently as today, it
is possible to purchase a good second-hand
text from a senior. Attache and brief cases
were unknown but shcoolbags carried the
necessary supplies..
Lunch time saw all those bringing their
lunch to school gather in the unsupervised
First Form classroom; the girls seated on the
north side, the boys on the South. Few
lunch-pails or thermos bottles were in
evidence. A paper bag with its inevitable
sandwich wrapped in a li nen napkin, a few
cookies and fruit in, season was all that was
required. Those who drank milk brought the
unpasteurized liquid in a pint jar. The other
regaled themselves from time to time at the
drinking fountain which dispensed unfiltered,
unchlorinat ed, unfluoridated beverage.
Organization
The more ostensible duties of the principal
and staff related to organization, instruction
and supervision. Seaforth was always noted
for the calibre of its teaching staff. Due to the
fact that the school was recognized
provincially for the attainments and,
achievements of ,its students at the Depart-
mental Examinations ; the principal was able
to select university graduates with experience
and scholarship. The late Dr. G.F.Rogers was
himself a gold-medalist in science and taught
botany, zoology, mineralogy, physics and
chemistry. Mr. G.F.Colling, a medallist in
matheniatics, taught commercial arithmetic,
algebra, geometry and trigonometry. Miss
Teskey was proficient in teaching English,
Grammar, Latin, Greek and Ancient History.
Miss N. Dafoe was an honour graduate in
modern languages and gave instruction in
French, German as well as British and
Modern History. Miss A. Chidley taught
English literature, composition find Canadian
History. When the commercial classes were
organized, Miss Clark was in charge of most
of the instruction. in that department including
e
9