FAREWELL

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 97, 15 December 1931, Page 5

FAREWELL

popular master ^ APPRECIATIYIT TRIBUTES ;! TO WORK OF MR. : A. R. RYDER :k *( FOUND ATIONS WELL LAID ' School hreaking-up ceremonies must. :: always be viewed with mixed feelin^s ' | by many of those who. participate in them; and this, perhaps was the prefominating feeling at last eveiiixig's v( preaking-up cei-emony of the Rqtoriia High School. Not only were a large .* aumher of the pup.ils saying f^retvell to the school, but the school, as a ;; whole, was saying farewell to its, tieadmaster, Mr. A. R. Ryder whp, bas guided it through the first and most difficult years of its history., The wide-spread esteem in whieh ; Mr. Ryder is held, not only hy pret -* sent and past pupils of the school, but by the community as a whole, was ixemplified in the many warm tributes which were paid to the work which he had carried out in laying the coundations pf the school. During the course of last evening's " ceremony three presentations were , i made to Mr. Ryder; • one from ihe pupils of the schooij one from the Old , Pupils' Association, and o,ne from the "! Board pf Governors, whiie during the day, before the break-up, other prd- , sentations were made at the schpol * : by the scholars. . J On behalf of the Board of Goyernors, Archdeacon Chatterton paid an Y iloquent tribute to the .splendid work lone by Mr; Ryder in laying the 'oundations of the school during the lrst 'years of its existence. * The news of Mr Ryder's departure *iad come as a shock to the board tated the Archdeacon in making the iresentation. At the same . time J . vhile they very deeply regretted his leparture, thdy extended to him their _ * •ongratulations on his appointinent tp • » x larger school. Mr. Ryder was leav^ ; igi them after. five years Of splendid ;; vork. He had laid the f oundations 4 >f a school which had already played : x very important part in the develop- * nent of the town and district and *"* which the speaker felt would play a .. * I rtill more important part in the fuure. Every citizen of Rotorua should 'eel proud of its school and of the xchievement which Mr. Ryder had vrought during the short time of his headmastership. ( Heavy Resporisibility Mr. Ryder had set himself an ideal ! -,nd the principles which he had laid . 'own had already indelihly left their nark. A headmaster of a school had a very heavy responsibility imposed •pon him in the shaping of the minds and character of the children who mssed through his hands. Mr. Ryder had succeeded in the face of many lifficulties and he had accomplished i great deal in a comparatively short v.ime. A great deai was said abotit a standard of living, but a much - ■nore important thing was a standard f life. lt was in training children ih a proper standard of life that headmasters such as Mr. Ryder, performxd a lasting work. He felt *that Mr. lyder had been an educationalist in he true sense of the wOrd, and he knew that his ioss would he very deep'y left by both the school and the : ommunity. The board could only rust that it would he able to replacO *iim, although that was, he knew, . . a very diificult matter. The presentation on bqhalf of the pupils of the school was made by the head prefect, Mary Bertram, and the •■iresentation, hy the Oid Pupils by Mr • Rosser. . Mr. Ryder's Reply "On an occasion such as this it is somewhat difficult for a staid head- ' master to express what he feels, b,ut I would like to tell you how much Mrs Ryder and I appreciate the kindriess which you have shown towards tts," • j V.aid Mr. Ryder. rising to reply. He paid a tribute to tlie co-opera-tion and sympathy which had been extended to him hy the Board of Gov5ernors in furthering his ideals for the school's development. During his fif st month in Rotorua he had liat the slightest doubt that he was the most unpopular man in the. place. "When he had come to Rotorua he had unfpftr unately entered a comipunity which in those days had not understpod what a secondary schoo.1 was. Hdwever, that had long sinqe passed away, and he had had wonderful assistance and co-operation from parents and friends of the school. Tlie response of the scholars had been magnificent and in this connection he paid a special tribute to the foundation pupils, who without the tradition of preyious pupils as an example, had lpyally hegun and maintained the spirit pf thp school. There had been occasipns when memhers of the hoard and hiinself had not seen eye to eye, hut he knew that on these occasipns memhers of the hoard had always been willing to give every consideratiop tp Ris ideas.

Wonderful Future He knew that he had made mistakes, hut he asked them to helipve that he had made them in ap endeavour to build up the school. He' left them with feelings of the very (leepest regret, hut confident that t^ie school which he had left behind had a wonderful future before it. They had in it the right type pf hoys and girls and a school spirit "vyhich he had never seen equalled in any other day school. . Mr. Ryder stressed tlie. irtiportahce of ohtaining aecommodalioii in connection with the schopl. Until that was done, in his opinion, the schopl could not definitely he placed on tbe footing of the best secondary schools in New Zealand. Board of Goverpors had definitely takexi the rpatter up. and he hoped for the sakes oi tHe school that every section of the coipmunity would give the board suppprt. Unquestionahly the provision of hostel aceommodation at the sciiooi would be of henefit to the town, as it would not only develop the efficiency of the school hut ifidirectly bring more money into the dj§trict. ' In conclusion Mr. Rydpr paid a f eeT ing tribute to the co-op'eratipn and sympathy of his staff and the splendid spirit shown hy the pupils ,of . th| school, both past and pregent. He had striven ' to inculcate a schpol sjniit and he felt that the co-operatioh:;o.f his staff and his hoys and girls |iad 1 enabled him to leave behiiid a school J of which they could all be hroud. *