Mattie Clark
IN MEMORY OF MATTIE CLARK 1913-1996
by Daryl Cook OSCA President 1983-1984
Mattie Clark was described recently by her niece as "magnificent" and OSCA friends who knew her would agree. She had an intellect that could cut quickly to the heart of the matter and in a warm, witty fashion put everything into perspective. She was not afraid to question assumptions or to challenge us in a positive way. Above all, we relied on her down-to-earth attitude and practical common sense.
Mattie died on March 2, 1996 at the Toronto Hospital after a lengthy illness.
Her teaching career began at Branksome Hall and continued at Tilbury High School, Danforth Technical School and Monarch Park Collegiate where she was Head of Guidance. During World War II Mattie worked with the Selective Service helping people to find jobs.
Mattie became involved in guidance in its early years. She twice served as President of the Ontario Personnel and Guidance Association (OSCA's predecessor), first in 1948 and again during OPGA's Twenty-fifth Anniversary Year 1970. Although she was never on the OSCA Board, she was always an active supporter and mentor. Many Annual Meeting issues were resolved thanks to Mattie's good judgment and articulate debate. Not the least of her contributions occurred at the association's organizational meeting in Waterloo in November 1964. As a former English teacher she was ever vigilant for correct usage. Just as the vote was to be taken to approve the constitution which would create OSCA, Mattie noted that we should change the placement of the apostrophe in "Counsellors'" in the organization's title. Without her intervention we would have voted to be an organization of one counsellor!
She contributed articles on several occasions to OSCA publications and was our resident "historian", often reminding us of the "bad old days". Until the last few years she had never missed an annual conference.
In 1976 Mattie received the Morgan D. Parmenter Award. On her retirement she was given the Olive Diefenbaker Award. Both recognized her many contributions to guidance at the local and provincial levels.
Years before OSCA chose its current motto, "We create the future by acting today", Mattie wrote, "the present is the result of the past - it has been caused; and this present is now producing a future." I can think of no greater tribute than to let Mattie's own words speak to us - conveying again her wit and wisdom, her passion for guidance, and her optimism for the future. These quotes are from an article published in the Fall 1970 issue of OSCAR entitled, "The Next Twenty-Five Years".
"While we announce now and plan later, while people continue to speak first and decide later what to say, someone has got to remember the students. Many of them will be out of school before the ground settles."
"There is no one else at a core point who can constantly and realistically inter-relate the practical needs of the students with the complexities of administration and the expectations of the public. We cannot just be counsellors - we must be educators. This is the justification of the long-established often criticized requirement that school Guidance Workers must be teachers first."
"At the end of another twenty-five years I predict that school counsellors...will have too few resources, too much trivial work, too little appreciation, too much overtime and very great concern about their students."
Thank you, Mattie. Twenty-five years later in 1996 these words are as relevant as they were when you wrote them. May they inspire us to carry on your efforts as we honour your memory.
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