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12 - rol A. C. Richardson, Chairman of Central Ontario County District High School Board. PORT PERRY STAR-Thursday, Dasambey 21, a BL CL oF AL REY i 1967 The Hon. M. B. Dymond, Ontario Minister of- Health. The Opening Of New Addition To Port (Continued Mr. Allan Crosier on behalf of the School Board and the persons present, extended thanks to Dr. Dymond for be- ing present and» officially open the new addition. Dedication and praver were performed by Rev. R. C. Rose, of the Church of Ascension. Principal of the School, G. C. MacDonald, was -the last speaker, and extended thanks to various persons re- sponsible for the construc- tion of the school. cular he expressed gratitnde In varti-' to the staff and students, who are to continue the growth and keep the school at a high scholastic level. Following the official op- ening, public was invited for a tour of the school. Stud. ents proved to be excellent guides from room to room through the entire new section of the school. Refreshments were served in the cafeteria, and again girl students graciously serv- ed and saw that no one lacked any of the delicious sandwiches, cookies and coffee. It was almost midnight be- fore the last visitors returned . home, an indication that the evening really was a success. Below is the text of the Hon. M. B. Dymond. M.D, M P.P., speech at the of- ficial opening of the new addition to Port Perrv High School It is difficult on an occa sion such as this to avoid making comparisons. When "we look on this newest addi- tion to the Port Perry High School, how can we help thinking back even to what was here before, or even more ambitiously to try and conjure up a picture of the original school in this com- munity 99 years ago. This business of drawing . paraljels with the past; of making comparisons and con- trasts is common in every sphere of human activity. We have indulged in the practice much more in this year of the Centennial of our Confederation. What we really were doing behind all the celebrations and festivi- ties, was, I think, balancing the events of 1867 against those of the present day. Looking at the past, it may taking the visitors Deputy-reeve Bruce Beare and Councillor Phil Orde inspected some of the work in be a little nostalgically, try- ing to realize how far we have travelled, as we view our present, thinking and looking .courageously and optimistically into the future. In the compass of man's history, one century is brief indeed, but in the past hun- dred years, how far we have come! So rapid has been the pace of progress in these our days! It has been said it took man 475 000. years to achieve the Agricultural Revolution. By comnvarison, it required another 25,000 years to come to the Industrial Revolution. By comparison, we _arrived-- at the "Space Age" in less than one hundred and fifty years. How did we get to this point? To answer that question would take much more time than I have been given. One thing stands out clearly and unmistakably-- EDUCATTON plaved a major role in this march of pro- gress. The first big step was taken in 1871 with the passage of an Act to Improve the Com- mon and Granimar Schools of Ontario. the exist?ng educational structure by establishing a clear distinction between elementary and secondary levels of education. Common schools became known "as "public schools" while "colle- giate institutes' and 'high schools" were destined to carry on the job of second- The Act tightened the wood-working class room and agreed that the products were of good quality. ary education. The High Schools were to offer a general education, or as it was specified "an Eng lish and Commercial Educa- tion, including the Natural Also taking in the tour of the school were Dr. and Mrs. M. B. Dymond who are seen looking over one of the ~and a half million. Bra AAI iin RWC a pia Grant C. MacDonald, Principal of Port Perry High School. Perry High School Sciences and with special re- ference to Agriculture". On the other hand, the collegiate institutes, offering Latin, Greek, French and German, * were regarded. as the proper channel to university educa- tion. This line of demarca- tion never was clearly ad- hered to and the distinction faded a good deal, remaining in principal only. The population of Ontario then was much less than one Secon- dary school enrolment in the --Province stood at" approxim- ately 5,700 "(not much more than twice the population of this téwn now in 1967). There 'were 102 secondary schools; the school leaving age was 14 years; n fees had te' be paid; this; i ack- ground of an agricultural economy which then was des- cribed as burgeoning. The wish by parents that their children should be taught the Classics -- usually because of the attendant pre-. stige value -- was matched by the school authorities' eagerness to teach these sub- jects in order to qualify for an additional 750 dollar per year Department of FEduca- tion. grant to Collegiate In stitutes. However, then too, in the lathes. With them in the Gordon Prentice.: Province, were educators who determined that education® need to have more realistic goals. if the particular needs of the society were to be met. So in 1897, official sanction was given to high school boards to establish, technical schools. This was indeed a farsighted move, for Canada's emergence as an in- duatrial nation, which began in World War I, became eom- plétely defined during World War II. Ontario's role in this evolution was a very im* portant one, , through the mass-productien of heavy military equipment; of air- craft; and the development of radar and other electronic devices. Really, it has Been in this period of our history, from 1914 through till the present that we have seen"advances in-science and technology; in almost every area of human development never "before, dreamed possible. So com- mon-place has this. all be. come that we all tend to adopt the modern teen-agers' attitude "so-what"! But with it has come the drastic and pressing need for new ideas in Education; new methods, techniaues. beliefs and poli- cies. Grade. school no long- er fits any of us for any- . picture are Mr. and Mrs. -- _ B! Bi bay Es (8 2g