OTAGO GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26042, 4 January 1946, Page 7

OTAGO GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL

NEXT MONTH’S CELEBRATIONS Previous notes in these columns have covered the first 50 years o£ the Girls’ High School’s existence, ending in 1921 with the retirement of its fourth principal. Miss F. M. Allan, who was succeeded in 1922 by Miss M. H. M. King. Miss King's long term of fine service to the school ended only at the close of 1944, and she herself is so well known and so (irmly enthroned in the affections of many hundreds of cxgirls that any reiteration of her splendid qualities is quite unnecessary. To Miss King, as to Miss Allan, fell the task of guiding the school through five troublous war years, and there is perhaps no section of the community which reacts more quickly to the unsettling influence of war-time than ’teen-age girls in the mass. In addition. there was the tendency for to) many girls to leave school too early, lured perhaps by the high wages ot the war period, or perhaps forced by the sudden and sometimes tragic domestic changes brought about by war s insatiable demands to curtail their secondary education. These and m§ny other problems attributable to war conditions added to the principal’s already arduous task, and called for the exercise of even greater wisdom and tact than are needed in normal times. To those principals and members of the stalT who kept the school on an even keel during two world wars special honour is due. And now a new era of girls has begun at. the old school. These are the girls who in time to come will look back and say with pride, “We were Miss Fitzgerald’s girls.’’ Miss Fitzgerald took over the school at the beginning of 1945—a difficult time m the affairs of educationists, with many changes of syllabus to upset the even tenor of the school way. but already she has amply demonstrated her ability to “ take hold ” and to cope with difficulties as they arise, and it is obvious that under her guidance the school will continue t.c uphold its proud traditions. Ex-girls, almost without exception, look back with pleasure on their secondary school days, and though there must be times in the life of every principal when she feels that, in the words of Byron, her “ hair is gi’ey. but not with age,’’ there must also be many happy memories treasured byprincipals as well as pupils of the days spent in the school of which they are all proud. It is a happy circumstance that at next month's celebrations three principals will take an active part, and exgirls from Miss Allan’s time right down to those who finished their school career only a few weeks ago, will be able to greet and pay homage to their own particular “ guide, philosopher, and friend.”