pickering college summer 2015 PILL A R S the , , m i n d b o d y s p i r i t 2 table of contents Head Shots 4 Light The Way is Underway! 6 Educating the Whole Child: Mind, Body, Spirit 8 Student Life 14 Kudos 22 Residence Life 23 Athletics 24 Grade 8 Graduation and Kindergrads 25 Class of 2015 26 Alumni News 28 Passings 30 Alumni Reunions 32 Staff News 34 PCA Update 35 Three Cheers for Our Talented PC Volunteers 36 Upcoming Events 38 Vanessa Chiu, Grade 12 Pencil crayon on paper 3 4 Head Shots MIND | BODY | SPIRIT In this issue you will be interested to learn more about the long-standing approach at Pickering College that has always made our school truly innovative and, consistent with our Mission, a leader in education. Embodied in the theme of Mind, Body, Spirit is the recognition that successful teaching and learning is grounded in a belief that focuses on the potential of each individual. Today, with the introduction of our Global Leadership Program, we continue to build on that belief to create the type of young people— entrepreneurial, innovative, creative, open-minded and resilient—who will be contributors to their community and who will offer their leadership when the opportunity arises, whatever that might mean for them individually. What has uniquely distinguished our school throughout our history is the role that Quakerism has played in defining our approach to teaching and learning. This includes the belief that there is a divine spirit in every human being and therefore the belief that all human beings have equal worth and dignity. At Pickering we often refer to this as “finding the light” within each child—that inner potential that is waiting to shine upon the world. Hence, Quakers believe that education is an ‘opening up,’ rather than a ‘filling up’ and we therefore work with each student to find and express their unique qualities and passions. We also seek to instil in our students the recognition that they must approach the world in a similar way. This means using silence and stillness to search for truth; it means a focus on simplicity, equality, peace and consensus- building. Quakers are known for leading purposeful lives and have made major sacrifices for social justice. Staying true to these values means that we want to be creating ethical, values-based social innovators who look for the best in every person; who work to empower others; who have the moral courage and capability to make informed and ethical decisions and take purposeful actions that inspire others; who display a spirit of care and compassion for those in the world who are disadvantaged or dispossessed; and who have the courage to accept their ability and their responsibility to change the world. At the Closing Meeting for Worship each year, the well-known “Message from an Old Boy” poses the following question: False propaganda, age-old prejudices, hasty decisions and jealousies are hard things to combat. But they have been combatted successfully at Pickering. There you live with people of almost every creed, of many races, of many tongues. Do the students of Pickering ever stop to think why they can do this, while so many in other places cannot? I’ll bet most of them don’t. Although written decades ago, the same question could still be asked today. The answer, I believe, lies in the pages ahead; a consistent focus on academic excellence, physical resiliency and moral depth—Mind, Body, Spirit. That is the heart and soul of a Pickering education. 5 REPORT FROM KELLY MASON, CHAIR Just before school ended for 2014-2015, of that ambitious effort. He was fond of much of the imagination of the strategic I took some time to pause and consider saying, “If we don’t move boldly, we will plan. Funding teaching and learning the construction underway for the be in the same place, having the same spaces means ambitious educational Dining Hall expansion. Work is steadily conversations about the future of the plans can find a home. We are very progressing to add space for 100 more school five years from now.” Thank you, grateful that funding for the Dining Hall students. The children in Junior School Ian, for encouraging the Board to make is a priority for many of our initial donors. have been delighted by the presence of these bold plans a reality. Look at us now! As a Community, we must continue the “mighty machines” out the window as momentum through donating to the they eat lunch. Unlike many other Light The Way capital campaign. It is exhilarating to realize that this very schools, family-style The Dining Hall is a perfect start for tangible step in the Campus Master Plan our campus improvement efforts. Unlike dining, led by a teacher, is now reality. many other schools, family-style dining, is an essential part of led by a teacher, is an essential part of the Back in 2010, we outlined an exciting Pickering College educational experience. future for Pickering College in our Strategic the Pickering College It has been so since the implementation Plan. And we have progressed through of the advisor, or counsellor, system educational experience. that plan, from the implementation developed by PC in the 1930s. The of the Global Leadership Program, to opportunity to engage and interact, learn –Kelly Mason, PC Board Chair outdoor education, to finding our ideal table manners and share customs, the size, to a rigorous new financial plan opportunity for a teacher to note a for the future, to providing exceptional The Light The Way campaign, which is student’s needs or their achievements in a teaching and learning spaces. Past Board dedicated to raising funds necessary for casual and friendly atmosphere, provides Chair Ian Proudfoot was the architect our campus improvements, captures so lasting value for child and parent alike. 66 The Dining Hall expansion broke ground in early May and will be unveiled at the Welcome Barbecue on September 8, 2015. IS UNDERWAY! OF THE PC BOARD OF DIRECTORS The expanded Dining Hall will have donors, including a lead gift of $1 million Floyd, current parent and Chair of the some much needed improvements, like from the Waters family. Facilities Committee, seems to spend a vestibule with new washrooms, doors most of his time these days in meetings outside to a future patio space, energy Past parents Jim and Sheila Waters, to move this project forward and his time efficient windows and walls, new air together with their daughters Maxine and effort have been Herculean. conditioning and heating systems for ’02 and Ellie Mae ’05, said simply that comfort, a sound system and a new they wanted to give back, to recognize So much is underway! We welcome your floor. However, the spirit and look of the good in Pickering, and to provide support and feedback. Together with the Dining Hall, built in 1966, remains. for the school’s future. The Waters also Headmaster Peter Sturrup; Kim Bilous, We plan to dedicate the Dining Hall in provided us with our wonderful CHOP Executive Director Development; and honour of an individual important to our FM radio station in 2007 and Jim remains dedicated senior fundraising volunteers, school, who started here as a student and Chair of the CHOP FM board. CHOP FM we will be in touch about your opportunity progressed to involvement in every facet plays a key role in teaching and learning to support the future of Pickering College, of Pickering. The naming will be unveiled in our Global Leadership Program and your opportunity to Light The Way. at the Welcome BBQ in the fall, followed allows Pickering to play a leading role in by a formal dedication during Reunion providing communications and media I hope you had a wonderful summer. I Weekend 2015 (October 1–3). We hope education. look forward to seeing all of our current as many alumni and friends as possible families in September, and welcoming will return for this event! We have also received generous our alumni and alumni parents in October leadership gifts from alumni, board and during the school year. But this is an article about Light The members, corporation members, staff Way—a $10 million capital campaign. and parents. We have received gifts- You and your family are a part of Pickering I am so proud to say that we have in-kind of construction materials and College’s history. Support the Light The raised $2 million from kind and generous essential advice and guidance. Adam Way campaign and be a part of our future. 7 TO EDUCATE THE WHOLE CHILD— MIND, BODY AND SPIRIT—IS WHAT PICKERING COLLEGE HAS ALWAYS DONE. IN THIS ISSUE OF THE PILLARS, YOU WILL LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW PICKERING HAS SHAPED GRADUATES OVER OUR 173-YEAR HISTORY AND HOW WE ARE PREPARING FUTURE GLOBAL LEADERS TO BE READY FOR WHATEVER OCCURS, WHEREVER THEIR LIFE JOURNEYS TAKE THEM. 8 EDUCATING THE WHOLE CHILD: Learning Services. “Joe was really ahead In a note to students at the conclusion of of his time in terms of being forward the school year in 1960, Beer wrote: “You thinking and looking at the students as go to school for self-knowledge and for a whole and not just compartmentalized the training of the mind through self-dis- into educational pieces.” cipline, so that you may be of service to mankind. The complexity of our society Forgie’s grandfather, Harry Beer, became today demands well-trained and highly- Headmaster in 1953. Beer carried on the skilled minds. Each of you must therefore HELPING STUDENTS TO SUCCEED philosophy and work that began with develop his own potential to the full and THROUGH INDIVIDUALIZED LEARNING McCulley. now is the time to measure your growth in things of the mind.” Pickering College has always prided it- self on being a pioneer in education. Fast forward over half a century—the With our roots as a Quaker school stretch- groundwork laid by McCulley and Beer ing back over 170 years, we have evolved continues on, today. Individualized learn- with the times yet stayed true to the prin- ing now takes shape as differentiated ciples on which we were founded. instruction in the classroom and the stu- dents who need a little extra help have After serving as a military hospital follow- the support of Learning Services. ing the First World War, when the school re-opened in 1927 it reaffirmed its com- Differentiated instruction is responsive to mitment to character education with students’ readiness, interests and learning a strong focus on individualized learn- preferences. It gives teachers flexibility to ing under the guidance of Headmaster meet the needs of different learners and it Joseph McCulley. offers students choice. In the school’s prospectus, published in “We now understand that excellence in 1927, Albert S. Rogers, Chair, stated: teaching comes from the ability of know- “It is recognized that it is impossible for ing each child’s strengths, their learning all pupils to proceed at an equal rate in all preferences and areas they need to im- subjects, and for this reason much of the prove,” says Kimberly Bartlett, Director of work of the school will be conducted by Teaching and Learning. “Faculty at Pick- the small group and individual method. ering College have had extensive profes- This system provides greater opportunity sional development in accomplishing this for thorough teaching by the staff and a in their teaching. All of our faculty differ- fuller appreciation and understanding of entiate their teaching and assessments the work by the pupils.” to reach each individual child in the classroom. In fact, our Global Leadership Individualized learning is an approach Program is grounded in this philosophy. to education that goes against the tradi- Differentiated instruction Through our unique program, students tional school model of students adapting have the opportunity to strive and chal- is responsive to students’ to fit the environment. Instead, Pickering lenge themselves in a multitude of ways, College adapts the environment to fit the readiness, interests and through their academics and co-curric- students. ulars. We believe in giving each student learning preferences. their chance to shine.” “Education is very different from mere It gives teachers flexibility instruction,” McCulley once wrote. “It is And shine they do. You just need to look not just the ‘hammering in’ of a series of to meet the needs of through the Student Life and Kudos sec- facts but rather the bringing out of capa- tions in this issue of The Pillars to see bilities, innate and inherent, in every in- different learners and it countless examples of how PC students dividual. Nor is it, as many insist, training are striving to achieve. offers students choice. for life. Education is life itself.” But sometimes figuring out how children In this, and in many other respects, Mc- “Under his care, Pickering was often learn best requires assistance from Learn- Culley was ahead of his time. thought of as a place where students ing Services. In recent years, the con- could go that maybe needed a second cept of having a learning disability has “We were the first school to have a psy- chance and there are a lot of success sto- emerged from the shadows and no lon- chologist on staff,” says Stephanie Forgie, ries out of that,” says Forgie. ger carries the stigma it once did. 9 “I think the big thing is really under- EDUCATING THE WHOLE CHILD: standing that to have a learning disability is that it’s not a disability. You learn dif- ferently—end of story,” says Forgie, who works with students in the Junior and Middle School. Learning Services helps students to iden- tify how they learn best with one-on-one OUTDOOR EDUCATION TAKES THE attention. In addition, it ensures students CLASSROOM OUTSIDE who are high achievers are sufficiently challenged. It also teaches students to Pickering College has always prided advocate for themselves by speaking up if itself on teaching outdoor education they’re having trouble understanding or skills that move students beyond the not getting what they need to learn. By classroom and out into the natural world. doing so, the students feel empowered which builds their self-confidence. When the school relocated to Newmarket in 1909, thanks to a generous gift of land “It is teaching them how they learn best from the Rogers family, it was situated and giving them very specific skills and on 250 acres of wilderness that had a strategies that will enhance their learning,” working farm. As part of their curriculum, study of conservation.” Overnight camp- says Penny Lawson-Cameron, Learning students took part in everything from ing trips began under the direction of Services, who works with the Senior helping at the dairy farm, to looking after W.H. Jackman, Director of the Preparatory School and teaches a learning strategies the pigs, to picking apples and working in Department. In the 1960s, the program class to Grade 9 and 10 students. the vegetable gardens. moved from Limberlost to Albion Hills School in Caledon. Bronwyn Andrews ’12 says before she In the 1930s, at the initiative of recieved help, she felt very frustrated Headmaster Joseph McCulley and C.R. “The body and soul are as some areas of study were not com- “Blackie” Blackstock, Head of Physical ing as easily to her as to the rest of her Education, senior students travelled to sensitive in that they classmates. “My learning experience at week-long adventures at Limberlost require complete Pickering was great!” says Andrews, who Lodge in Algonquin Park for days of skiing currently attends Ryerson University, and sledding. McCulley had previously harmony if we wish to majoring in psychology. “All of the [PC] served for three years as Assistant Director teachers were very supportive. Learning of the YMCA Boys Camp in Muskoka and, be successful and Services also helped me to realize my po- with Blackie, instituted our long history of benefiting to those tential as a student and to become my outdoor education. own advocate.” around us.” Junior students constructed “Myerstown,” Pickering pioneered a commitment to a replica pioneer village, on school property –Ray McLellan ’67 reaching all learners that is now incorpo- in 1942. Outdoor projects included rated into the wider education system. navigation, archery (with bows and arrows Forgie says over the years she has been made in the shop, under the careful watch From 1909 to 1982, the school property approached by a number of Old Boys at of shop teacher and artist Rudy Renzius), a was the “playground” for the local and PC functions who have said how Pickering fish pond and a vegetable garden. school community, with trees to climb, helped them to accept and understand rivers for tug-of-war competitions, the way they learn. swimming holes to bathe in, forests to play ‘capture the flag,’ fields to run in, “Pickering was a wonderful time for and hills to ski. Our annual Booker’s Run, them,” she says. “I think it’s a combination started in 1980 by French teacher Larry of firmness with affection and that’s Thornton, and named in honour of the something we work really hard at foster- late Keith McLaren, former teacher, coach ing—not just Learning Services, but all of and Assistant Headmaster at Pickering our teachers. It all helps to feed into that College, was designed to make use of the idea of forming these bonds and making farmland at a time of the year when the these relationships, and I think that’s sports program was in a transition period something my grandfather would have Beginning in the 1950s, students in between fall and winter. Today, outdoor been proud of, to know that is the direction Grades 7 and 8 also enjoyed camping education at Pickering College begins in we’re taking.” trips to the bush to “make a concentrated Kindergarten. 10