POPULAR HEAD

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 93, 10 December 1931, Page 5

POPULAR HEAD

HIGH SCHOOLl'S LOSS * MR. A. R. RYDRR JQ LEAVE ROTORUA . FOR WHANGAREI • ' * ..v •: •? vOUTSTANDING. RECORD . i.' — c . .--i« . / ; ■ ... i ■ The . close pf the> schopl ypar for.i. the Rotorua High School will be-fieep-ly tinged- withjregret gt the ne^s, £e- t ceived yesterday*. that its popqlar headmaste-r, Mr. A. R1;Ryder, .will not return at the beginning rof 193Z» Mr...'' Ryder has been, successfjUl in -an ap^-.i plication for the . headmastership of- .. the Whangarei,. High School, ani his , dppartjure from Rotorua. yviU take ■ from the sqhool the mqn whp first placed its feet upon the ladder oi ; progrpss. • . . : ■ ; . . When . Mr, Ryder "vyas appointed headmaster of the ? school an 1927-/ it 1 had just graduated ;from the distr-i.cf high school stage. .It had no . prpjper school building gnd ,yery little entity as a school. In the short, space of jfive years however, Mr. -Ryder has. brought the Rotorua High Schoo.l to a standard which/. despite its youth, will-bear cpmparison with that .of: any, ;pther , secondary -school. in the^Dominion. , Mr. Rydep came to.the- school wffh training received in two of New Zea-_ Iqnd's-l.eading jspcpndary schoo-ls-^^ Ifew Plymouth Boys' High S.chooJ and Auckland Grammar. School— and pn- . der his ■ guidance the - traditions .-an,^ - spirit of those .schools an^ ;of 0^e.r - great sepondary schqols in/the Dominiqn,; has transformed the, -Rotorua - school .a.nd given it an individuality-. of its own. ■ , ; ' "• - t •' * * & 4} . «. i* Record of Progress Soon after Mr; Ryder took over" his headmastership, the Rotorua school' remoVed to the new build n£which it at preseht occupies. " WitH, r. headmaster who hhd before - hhfi" the ideal of a s'ecoii'dary scho.ol of the. h.est type and with-*an environment^, to give that ideal effect', the^sdhool made remarkable progress. Mr: Ry-.' der was fortunate in j gathering a'i* round him a staff which loyally kec- .' (■nded his efforts and the. schppl tdday reflects a transformation effect-' cd in the short period of his head-' mastership. The balance of th'e Scholastic and sporting activities1 oi' th'e chool has beep ma}n.tain,ed through- " out and already ip botjh. departments* •upils of the schpol.have achievC.d noj:-' r.ble succqsses. Froip an incbhside'r--able , district high , schPo}," the; r-chool has advanced until |tsfirst Rugby fif.teen , ^ia^ ,defeated that of .i;he ijamilton Higfi.chool, qne of the leading Rugby•chools of the Dominiop and .its shoot'pg team is the present. holder of.the Weekly. Pr.ess ^ Challenge- _ ShiPlpl, ..a shoqting.trophy open tp all secondaryschools in ,the , Domipipn. ... wOn the .cholastic side it has obtained a highy satisfactory number of successes. Mr. Ryder's Career. Perhaps the most. outstanding . ac-' :ievement;of Mr. Ryder as- headmaster ff the school has- -been the inculcaion of a school spirit which would '.o credit to a school with much older traditipn. Under his guidance, .jihp school has grown .into one of which '"lotorua can be proud and which as the years pass, must -contribute more .nd more to the progress of the town, Mr. Ryder received' his,. education ■.t (Jhristchurch Boy.s' . High Schopl •nd Canterbur-y Collegq, . where' he 00k his degrees as ,Master of Arts ind Bachelor of .-Science.. . -For: some /ears he was- first ; assistant at.New Plymouth Boys' High School, Tyher-e he coached the school first fifteen, during the. great years of its .history when it held the Moascar. Cup.. After leaving New .Plymouth,. Mr;. Ryder, wefit: to Auckland Grammar School ,as head of the science department and it was from the Grammar School that he obtained his appointment to Rotorua. 1 . His new position at Whangarei is substantial promotion, but while congratulations will be extended to. Mr Byder on this' fact, they will be -deeply tinged with regret at ;his departure from the school to which he 'hds contributed so much. Whangarei ■High Scho.ol, together -with Waitaki Boys' High School, . Marlborough '/ High School, and Rotorua,, is a" high school with a junior department' attached and is a special type .of school coifiparatively recentiy introduced. ' At Whangarei, Mr. Ryder will have approximately 450, childrep.iri both the senior and 'junior departments.