The Wingham Advance-Times, 1975-03-06, Page 12w
Times, Thanday, March Il�dS
C0.EDITORS
Sandra Currie
Cecil de Boer
letters to the Editor
Editor:
For a change, something I've
Witten is going to be short and to
point. A few near-sighted in-
dividuals have had the gall to
'rite that they think that the
teaching staff at Madill is second
r*te. If it sounds, by my Vhat I am perturbed, then you are
getting the point.
You are attending one of the
finest schools in the province, but
the best school is useless without
a capable staff. Scattered
throughout the system are some
very dedicated people and you
are lucky enough to have a good
number of them at Wingham. I'm
not talking about test-slingers or
task masters but very devoted,
unselfish, idealistic men and wo-
men. I say idealistic because
every one of them knows that he
Is part dreamer. They could earn
far more and surely see more
satisfaction and results from a
few days' toil in some other pro-
fession. Rather, they have chosen
as their life's work a job that de-
mands far more than it usually
returns. These are very human
beings, these teachers, and often
more likeable and sensitive than
we think. My doings in Madill
have brought me very close to
many of them. One very remark-
able man whom I had for a teach-
er once told our grade nine class
that he wouldn't begin to like us
until we were in grade eleven.
Just as het said, that man .did be-
gin to like us as we approached
our senior grades. But, perhaps
more remarkable is the fact that
the older I grew, the more I relat-
ed to and identified with him. As
Joni Mitchell once said ... "don't
it always seem to go? You don't
know what you've got `til it's
gone" .. .
A Very Grateful Graduate,
Rick Currah
Gymnastic meet
The annual gymnastic meet
was held at F. E. Madill on
Wednesday, February. 19. The
Banting Institute competed
against Wingham. Banting's
team finally won over Madill's
team. Both teams displayed
much strength, agility, ability
and gracefulness as they per-
formed their individual routines.
Each was marked -according to
composition.
Individual boy winners from F.
E. Madill were as follows: Ken
Wall, second, and Francis Mahe;
third,. on the senior rings;. Andy
Heim, second on the junior rings;
Dave Cro+e, third in the senior
parallel bars; Jim Blackwell,
second, and Andy Heim, third, in
the junior parallel bars; Francis
Mahe, third, and Kevin Stuart,
fourth, in the senior floor ex-
ercise; Doug Kuyvenhove'h, third
-in the... junior floor exercise;
Andy Heim, first, and Jim Black -
Well, 'th'd; tithe jufaok raiiilthig; '
ids' volleyball
The F. E. Madill girls have
been representing our school
very well the last couple of
Weeks.
On February 15, the senior
• girls' volleyball team travelled to
London where they played two
exhibition matches against Exe-
• fair and Clinton. The seniors de-
fatted Exeter in two straight
games but unfortunately lost to
Clinton because of a shortage of
three players from their team.
We are convinced that if the
whole team was present for the
last match against Clinton that
is the Mustangs would have carried
: ` away a double victory.
On Thursday, February 20, the
senior and junior teams com-
peted in the Huron -Perth finals at
St. Marys. The seniors placed
fourth out of six schools, in the
Huron -Perth finials. Within Huron
county the seniors ranked second
`s best. Wingham played their first
! game ai 9:00 against Stratford
Central winning one game 16-14
and losing the next with a score of
15-9. Their next form of competi-
tion was against St. Marys losing
both games 15-10 and 15-3. At 1:30
the Mustangs stalked into Gym 1
and faced the Vikings. You could
°
feel it in the air the girls were
going to make this a battle to the
end. Madill defeated Goderich in
both games with scores of 15-2
and 15-12. Somewhere along the
line they played Listowel • girls
losing both games 15-6 and 15-11.
Wingham played the last game of
the day at 3:45 against Clinton.
Unfortunately they only won one
game 15-8 and lost one game 9-5.
This was a tough series for the
girls but it was all good ex-
perience and they came out close
to the top for Huron and Huron -
Perth finals. Good work girls!
The juniors ranked second in
,the Huron finals. Unfortunately
they didn't place among the top
"tour in the Huron -Perth finals.
The girls played a top level of vol-
:eyball throughout the day but
somehow they were defeated in
gall but one game. The coach, Mrs.
3haw, could not explain this
3henomenon but commented that
text year they have a super team
fined up and they have already
ieclded among themselves that
:hey are going to win 1975-1976
• 3uron-Perth finals.
The volleyball season is over
•'sir another year and I'm sure we
ire all proud of the effort put
Orth by both teams. Huron -Perth
;,ext year!
Reporter : MaryAnne Alton
Francis Mahe and Ken Wall tied
for third place in senior vaulting;
Mike Heim, first place in junior
high bar; Bruce Dickert, first,
Kevin Stuart, second, and Ri-
chard deBoer, third, * in senior
high bar; David Ritter, second in
the junior pommel; Rick Wil-
liams and Brian Work tied third
place in the senior poinmel.
The girls' gymnastic team
from F. E. Madill displayed ex-
cellent abilities. Individual girl
winners were as follows: Kate
Cook, third in the intermediate"
unevens; Martha Graham, third,
and Myra Dane, fourth, in the in-
termediate balance beam; Mari-
lee Kennedy, third in novice bal-
ance beam; Ruth Cooper, third in
novice floor; Peggy Orien, first,
and Pat Orien, second, in inter-
mediate floor; Susan Brookes;
first, and Pam Clarke, second, in
novice balance beam.
-Theanting"s girls' gymnastic
team won 59-22 and the Banting's
boys' team - won 60-44. Each
school made an excellent show-
ing of ability and should be com-
mended on their efforts.
adill
by Lynda Lyons
Mary MacKinnon
Brenda Johnston
Jane Shiell
QUESTION: Have you any
comment on the recent editorials
and "letters to the editor" which
have appeared in the school
page?
0-0-0
GENEVIEVE KINAIIAN 13B:
I thought the letter on cheating
was really well written and very
true. It's about time someone
spoke up and voiced their opin-
ions on this topic.
0-0-0
JIM RITTER 12H: I was glad
to realize on reading Jim Pat-
tiSon's letter that some people
really know what is going on
around here. I couldn't agree
with luta more.
0-0-0
HUGH ROSS 12H: I feel it gives
the students a chance to express
their ideas and thoughts about
the goings-on in the school, and to
show their interests on topics of
concern.
0-0-0
MR. McLENNAN: First of all,
I'm happy to see that some of the
students are actually expressing
their opinions instead of taking
an "I don't care" attitude that
seems to be prevalent these days.
Secondly, it was nice to see the
rebuttals appear. I'm glad some
students are on my side.
0-0-0
ROBIN BRENT HA: I feel in
the last editorial that the editor
didn't have a fair judgment of the
majority of the teachers but in
some cases the teachers do follow
the "care less" attitude about the
students.
° 0-0--0
MRS. TIFFIN: I'm delighted
that the students are .thinld
about the quality of education.
noticed that the ex -students have
a different view now from the
time when they were here and
that in all cases they are very ap-
preciative.
0-0-0
GAIL RENWICK 13C: The re-
cent editorials have been inter-
esting, to say the least. However,
the only ones with which I totally
agreed were Jim Pattisotestletter
to the edito°r, and Cindy4Thorton's
editorial about cheating. I'm glad
that the students are finally using
the school page for expressing
their own opinions. Keep it up!
Editorial
In last week's edition of the
school page, a very concerned in-
dividual wrote a letter to the edi-
tor about the present condition of
the student lounge. She stated
that a little care and .common
sense on the part of the students
could keep the lounge clean and
the furniture in usable condition.
She also . mentioned something
about the discarded bottles and
accumulations of : paper, foam,
bottle caps and chips of broken
pens, pthicils and rulers building
up on the floor while the garbage
cans remained empty. She said
that little has been done, or is
being done, to improve the situa-
tion.
Early this week, a move was
made in an attempt to improve
the condition of the lounge. Any-
one who was in the lounge on
Monday, within a short period of
time, couldn't help but notice the
Yearbook
supporters
UCO Belgrave, Belgrave;
Sepoy Drive -In, Lucknow;
Bridge Motors Ltd., Brussels;
Bruce Willits Tire Service, Luck -
now; . Hayward Discount and
Variety, Brussels; Kuenzig's Su-
perior Store, Teeswater.
The Tuck Shop
The Madill Tuck Shop is a ser-
vice run by the Athletic Council.
This organization provides stu-
dents who participate in physical
education classes with proper
gymsuits and sockyThese are
available in a wide range of
styles in our school colors — pur-
ple and white. The Tuck Shop
managers are Brenda. Johnston
and Sandra Currie. It is open
every Tuesday and Thursday.
Also available in the Tuck Shop
are school medallions, jogging
suits, Adida shoes, and duffel
bags.
Thereis still much stock avail-
able in the Tuck Shop so when
you're not too busy, drop in and
see what the better dressed F. E.
Madill student wears.
change in its appearance. The
floor was clean and the furniture
was spread out in a suprisingly
neat and orderly pattern. For the
first time in the last several
months, the coke -stained floor
showed up having been concealed
by the blanket of garbage that in-
habited the first foot of room next
to the floor.
On seeing this change, I was
very pleased and prepared to
congratulate the people respons-
ible. But, the change in -the lounge
was short-lived. When I returned
on Thursday, I noticed the usual
mess of foam, bottle caps and pop
bottle spittoons spreading from
wall to wall and from ceiling to
floor.
It was at this moment that I de-
cided something must be done to
improve the appearance of the
lounge. I thought over some pos-
sible solutions but most of the few
I arrived at would work no longer
than a day or two. The idea of re-
stricti'g the lounge to only the
senior students is both an im-
probable and impossible solution.
Closing down the lounge for a
week appears to result in double
the damage and mess the week
after. Other than these ineffec-
tive solutiong to the problem, I
came upon one that I am convinc-
ed could work and would work
well if enough people got involv-
ed. If some people don't soon get
involved in the improvement of
the lounge, I will be prepared to
launch my attempt.
The solution involves a "Save
Our Lounge" campaign in which
a large number of people are in-
volved. The campaign inches
the guarding of the lounge by a
select group of people. If things
should happen to get messy and
disordered, the group of students
will clean it up and put things
back in order.
You may be asking who this
select group should be. The ideal
situation would be to have the
group consist of every member of
the student body. Since this is un-
likely to happen a group of about
one hundred (100) volunteers
would probably prove sufficient.
But if this method is to be suc-
cessful it will require a very dedi-
cated group of students who are
prepared to keep the lounge in a
neat and orderly appearance.
r -Cecil de Boer 13A.
rr
Looking back
I've been here for five years
now, five long, short years. I
came into grade nine just as the
last of the greasers went out and
the first of the hippie culture
entered. F. E. was then, and is
now, a good school, not a great
school, but it likely never will be.
Madill isn't.known for its football
or soccer or basketball, drama
club, glee club, or chess club. I
guess we're pretty much run of
the mill.
I can remember when the main
hall mob was Neil Graham,
Nancy Guest, Bob Sangster, and
the Corrigan brothers and crew. I
remember when there was a glee
club and a drama club of 150 vol-
unteers. I remember the year we
all went to Goderich to cheer our
football team on to victory and
then lost. I remember Mr. Gnay
in the role of Santa Claus at the
Christmas party, and the pie auc-
tion, and the pie -throwing con-
test.
I remember where a chariot
took a hunk out of the shop cor-
ridor wall near Mr. Shore's room
during the great chariot race of
nineteen hundred and sixty-nine.
have seen the loom where the
cadet pants are stored, I have
dug flowerbeds for Mr. Webster,
sold chocolates bars in the rain
and seen Mr. Trudeau land his
helicopter on our front lawn.
I've seen kids leave school to
make the almighty dollar and
then come back humbly a week
later. I've felt teachers soften to-
wards me as I've grown older,
and have made friends from Old
rivals. I've made a fool of myself
on stage and got clapped at. I've
made a fool of my$elf in the
classroom and got slapped at.
I've both picked on grade nines
and stuck up for them. I've
cursed seniors as a junior, and
juniors as a senior.
In the five years I've been here,
I've learned a lot, but not so much
classroom knowledge as practi-
cal lessons. I've tasted defeat and
success. I've passed, , and failed,
been rewarded and punished. I
have learned tolerance from the
intolerant, patience from the im-
patient, and gained wisdom from
the foolish. I feel that any person
who has denied him or herself a
full high school education, has
denied himself one of the world's
greatest gifts — time.
Here we have time to learn,
reason, (Wand achieve, and to
do all those thousands of things
we wouldn't have time to do if we
were in the outside world. These
walls reek of knowledge; not the
x plus x equals 2x knowledge, but
the knowledge of human ex-
perience,. Come to class, gripe
and bitch about your teachers
and your crummy marks, but
learn from them too. There is so
much to learn, that no time is
ever really wasted, but used in
some obscure way. Your time
here is precious. Make • friends,
strive to be a better person, and
learn to take life as it comes, day
by day.
Rick Currah.
357-2320
RUR'T+Np 'I, LLTh$ ET
# SEETE 1101, MET
On February 21 we .ryedt
to Stratford filo rthwestern for the
Midget Huron -Perth :tournament.
The first game =0 against
Goderich and we were defeated
52-84. Top scorers for the first
game were Wayne Bell with eight
points and Ken Tervit with six
points.
In the second game the score
was tied 45-45 with only to few sec-
onds to go. Clinton put in .three
quick baskets to defeat us 51.45.
Top scorers *tor the second game
were David Gamble with fifteen
points and Ken Tervit with twelve
points. Congratulations on a fine
effort.
Good luck next year.
—Coach, Mr. Shore.
MJR+GrE: CO Fe�r ► ,
Exeter came to Wing� to de,
feat the Musts, We were
very.nueh in the game until after
halfftinne, The Score aatt e eof
the second quarter was 101
guess we just lost Steam. Vivid
Gabble, David ellglasti. 01100'
Cooper and Wayne Bell each
scored four points.��t�,may, �(�o $h
—CoaWb, M#� . Shu e;
0--0---0
JUNIORS: 'the Wingham Mus-
tangs played against Exetep
February W. The score was 53-25
in favor of the Mustangs. Top
scorers were John Campbell with
18 points and Greg Simpell with
14 points. Congratulations on a
fine effort. •
—Coach, Mr. Hunter.
BARFOOT'S EAVESTROUGHING
YEAR 'ROUND INSTALLATION
*COLOURED
*ALUMINUM
*GALVANIZED
*RESIDENTIAL ROOFING
FREE ESTIMATES
D. M. BARFOOT
TEL. 335-3918 GORRIE, ONTARIO
KEN
AIN i SON MOTORS LIMITS
INTRODUCES
i
Yes
The first all new car in 20 years.
See it this week at Ken Davidson Motors
THE
ALLNEW WE NEED YOUR TRADE!
�
RAC
SMALL.CAR �670 Main street East, Listowe
AMC ri Pacer
291-1300
Ontario
BACKED BY THE AMC BUYER PROTECTION PLAN
M
•
p
M
4