A CEREMONY OF PRESENTATION TO MR. HOWELL


Previous Page
"The Review" - October 1968

Two days before the end of the Summer term the school met together in the hall for a pleasant little ceremony to mark the retirement of our deputy Head-master.

   After the platform party had taken their seats a most colourful bouquet of flowers was presented to Mrs. Howell. Then Mr. Lowe stepped forward to speak briefly about "this happy and sad occasion" which meant the end of Mr. Howell's contribution of thirty-five years of fine education at the school but which permitted a well-merited expression of public thanks to a man who had at all times combined sound sense with a readiness to help and advise.

   The Senior Boy, Keith Nixon, then came on to the stage and presented Mr. Howell with a splendid-looking grey Greenhouse Heater on behalf of the boys of the school. He thanked Mr. Howell for having guided so many generations of boys to fruitful careers in local industry and felt that his decision to choose Education rather than Industry as a career had in fact benefited both worlds.

   Mr. W. A. George, our Metalwork Master then came forward as an Old Boy of the School (to the surprise of many) and on behalf of his colleagues handed an Electronic Flash Gun to Mr. Howell in the hope that it would add a new dimension to his photographic interests. Mr. George recalled the old days at Moorland Road when there were just eight classes of twenty-four boy's in rooms so small that the tinier children had to be seated at the front, and thanked Mr. Howell for being a friend and helper to so many for so long.

   Our former headmaster Mr. Potts now stood up to give his erstwhile colleague a model to represent the greenhouse already dispatched to his home by past and present staff at Stanfield. He was delighted, he said, to perform this office and equally happy to recall what an excellent guide and counsellor Mr. Howell had been.

   Clearly enthusiastic about the greenhouse which had just arrived at his home, Mr. Howell replied that he was going to spend the next week or two putting it up. After wide and generous thanks, he picked up his Flash Gun and took three photographs with it to the general amusement and pleasure of the staff and boys. When the excitement subsided, Mr. Howell thanked the staff, education committees, parents, employers and boys for their co-operation over the past years and said how grateful he was to his Wife for all her help and encouragement.

   With his good wishes to the boys in front of him a wave of applause arose and the ceremony came to an end.


Previous Page