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PICKERING COLLEGE SUMMER 2014 theh PILLARS PURSUE YOUR PASSION 54704_PICCOL_PillarsSummer2014.indd 1 2014-08-14 11:25 PM 54704_PICCOL_PillarsSummer2014.indd 2 2014-08-14 11:25 PM table of contents Head Shots 4 PC’s Olympic Connections 6 Adam Bradley ’98 in Hollywood 9 Student Life 10 Residence Life 19 Class of 2014 22 Fred Little ’55: A Lasting Impression 24 PC’s Strategic Plan 27 Alumni News 28 Passings 31 Alumni Reunions 32 Three Cheers for Our Talented PC Volunteers 35 PCA Update 36 Upcoming Events 38 Cover story: For two exciting days in February, the Pickering College community gathered in Egan House to cheer for alumna Olympic figure skater Gabby Daleman ’16 as she realized her dream of competing at Sochi. PC’s legendary school spirit was featured on the newscasts of CBC Television, CBC Radio, CTV Barrie and on the front pages of both the Newmarket Era and the Aurora Banner newspapers. 54704_PICCOL_PillarsSummer2014.indd 3 2014-08-14 11:26 PM “Don’t agonize about success and failure. Just do what you must do as well as you possibly can. In the process you may eventually transcend triumph and disaster.” –Andreas Kluth 4 54704_PICCOL_PillarsSummer2014.indd 4 2014-08-14 11:26 PM Head Shots n the following pages of The Pillars you will see many things about the successes of Pickering people I– Olympians, Hollywood entertainers, debators, builders, musicians, academics and leaders. The issue makes one incredibly proud to be a part of our community, because our people, past and present, are achieving success in all walks of life. In so doing, they are changing the world. But how does one actually go out and “be successful” or even really define what success means to them? Students in our Global Leadership Program are asked to become “agents of courageous, ethical and positive change, true to Quaker values.” That, indeed, is a noble aspiration. But it could also be a little intimidating; with the expectation that everyone must be a world changer. While there is no doubt that this aspiration will be a valuable contribution to our world, defining success in more humble terms is equally important. In 1905, Bessie Stanley won a contest with her response to the question, “What constitutes success?” Her unpretentious answer included the following: “ …(he) who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul;…” What an elegant expression. What a simple reminder that success can, and perhaps should, be measured by the small, personal, compassionate actions by which we come to be known over a lifetime. And the reassuring thing is, every one of us is capable of doing that. I also heard a quotation attributed to Martin Luther King Jr. not too long ago, which also captures, for me, the deeper and more important meaning of success as well as how we go about achieving it. He said, “ If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.’ ” Small things, done with care, done well, done for others. Imagine if everyone in the world approached each day like that? Finally, I often find myself encouraging others with the words of Viktor Frankl, a man who survived the horrors of concentration camps and through his suffering came to articulate the nature of survival, meaning, purpose and…success. His words resonate for any human being: “ Don’t aim at success – the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side- effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the byproduct of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long run – in the long run, I say! – success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it.” I believe our job at Pickering College is to help prepare the next generation of leaders, just as we have for 172 years. Our job is to help young people aspire to live fulfilling, meaningful, happy lives and make an impact on the world around them. Yes indeed, we want them to be successful. But, most importantly, we want them to know that committing to a cause greater than themselves and reaching out to touch the soul of even one other person will be the most successful thing they can ever do. –Peter Sturrup, Headmaster 5 54704_PICCOL_PillarsSummer2014.indd 5 2014-08-14 11:26 PM FASTER, HIGHER, STRONGER. PC’S OLYMPIC CONNECTIONS SPAN THE LAST CENTURY PICKERING COLLEGE HAS A SURPRISING NUMBER OF OLYMPIC CONNECTIONS! HERE ARE A FEW OF THE WAYS WE ARE CONNECTED: ALUMNA GABRIELLE DALEMAN ’16 SKATES FOR CANADA IN SOCHI This past February, the Pickering College community, along with the media and local dignitaries, cheered on alumna Gabby Daleman ’16 as she represented Canada in Women’s Figure Skating at her first Olympic Games. Gabby got her start in figure skating at Pickering College, where she was a student from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8. Her father and conditioning coach, Michael Daleman, is a Senior School teacher here. Gabby does her strength and conditioning training at PC. At just 16 years old, Gabby was the youngest athlete on Team Canada at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. A few weeks before she competed in Sochi, the Town of Newmarket threw her an official send-off party. During an interview with CTV Barrie she thanked both the Town of Newmarket and Pickering College for their support. When the big day arrived, excitement abounded at PC as Gabby took to the ice. Decked out in red and white for a special Olympic Spirit Day, our students erupted into deafening cheers as soon as Gabby stepped onto the ice. When the live TSN broadcast mentioned that all of Pickering College was gathered to watch Gabby skate, the crowd went wild! After a thrilling Short Program skate, as Gabby waited for her marks, she waved at the camera and said, “Hi PC!” There was near pandemonium in Egan House. Gabby placed 19th overall and advanced to the Ladies Free Program. The next day, we gathered again in Egan House and held our collective breath as Gabby competed for a medal. In the end, she placed a very respectable 17th overall in the world. “I have never felt so much excitement in the school as when we were all watching Gabby skate,” said Peter Sturrup. “The gym was electric with energy and the shouts of encouragement for Gabby were deafening. We are so proud of her.” 6 54704_PICCOL_PillarsSummer2014.indd 6 2014-08-14 11:26 PM SENIOR SCHOOL TEACHER GRAHAM has overcome any obstacle created by the boycott of the Moscow Olympic BIRT’S VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE IN the fact that there are no luge tracks in Games in 1980. Later he went on to over- SOCHI India by training on a modified sled on haul the Olympic Charter, as requested “I was incredibly fortunate to have the Himalayan highways. Swiss gold medallist by Juan Antonio Samaranch. Jim stayed opportunity to serve the Canadian Team cross-country skier Dario Cologna waited in touch with Pickering College and there in Sochi and to witness some of the magic for over half an hour at the finish line in was a hurdles race named after him in our of the Olympics firsthand. I have now had order to shake the hands of the last two historic Quaker Relays. the honour of working on behalf of Team finishers – one being the only athlete Canada at four Olympic Games (Beijing, in Sochi from the country of Nepal and BLACKSTOCK CARRIES ON PASSION Vancouver, London and Sochi) and two the other being Peru’s first-ever Winter FOR ATHLETICS Pan American Games (Rio de Janeiro and Olympian. In my opinion, stories like Dr. C. Reginald (Blackie) Blackstock, Guadalajara). these take the meaning of Olympism to (father of Brian Blackstock, ’56 and an entirely different level.” Richard (Dick) Blackstock ’63) became My role in Sochi was primarily as a sup- great friends with Jim Worrall. Blackie was port person for Canadian athletes. When a significant presence in Pickering College each team arrived at the various Athletes life from 1928 to 1959, becoming the Villages, I would deliver a 15-minute first person at a school in Canada to orientation session, during which I would hold the position of Director of Physical cover procedures, access to services and Education, starting the Quaker Relays, other logistical pieces. Although speaking as well as coaching many sports and in front of groups of people is a regular championship teams. After leaving part of my role at Pickering, this was Pickering, Blackie continued to advocate clearly a very different audience! As an for excellence in sport and fitness, and .

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