A higher level of resiliency

As we face this unprecedented time in our history, Pickering College’s staff and students have continued to meet the challenges head on.

The Global Leadership Program, which prepares our students with the skills and integrative thinking abilities required to manage whatever the future holds, has offered a modified program of activities this year due to the pandemic restrictions. Though there are fewer opportunities for cross-class and cross-grade collaboration due to cohorting of students, the number of positives coming out of the modified program outweigh any drawbacks, believes Julia Hunt, Senior Director of Strategic Innovation.

“We’re actually further ahead on a lot of GLP projects because we deeply considered what we needed to have in place to support student success during restrictive times where they would not have access to traditional community resources. So, with careful planning by all the faculty and staff, we were well prepared,” says Hunt. “We moved all of our resources and found digital components so that we were able to not only complete our projects but complete them with enough time for students to be really reflective about the work that they’ve done and what their next steps are going to be when restrictions loosen up.”

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING CONTINUES

Experiential learning, where students have traditionally ventured into the community, is a big part of the Global Leadership Program. This year, PC’s faculty have been very creative in coming up with replacement activities that still provide that hands-on learning but in a way that is compliant with the school’s health and safety protocols.

For instance, Grade 10 students typically travel to Toronto for at least one of their experiential learning opportunities, in addition to local destinations including the Quaker Meeting House on Yonge Street. This year, the Grade 10 GLP Team, Senior School faculty, partnered with Anishinaabe Cultural Consultant Kim Wheatley, an Ojibwe Anishinaabe Grandmother from Shawanaga First Nation Reserve who carries the spirit name “Shkoden Neegaan Waawaaskonen” (Head or Leader of the Fireflower) and who is Turtle Clan.

In early February, she began meeting with the Grade 10 students virtually to teach them about appreciating the land. “Pickering College is honoured to have Ms. Wheatley speak to and engage our students. She provided the context necessary for us to better connect to the importance of Pickering College’s Land Acknowledgement and gave us new understandings of Anishinaabe culture,” said Grade 10 GLP co-lead, Josh Armstrong. “This is different from what we have done in the past but, in my opinion, will offer a deeper consideration of the question ‘to whom does land belong?’ There’s more to it than that,” adds Hunt.

PROGRAM DESIGNED FOR SUCCESS

With students learning in person this academic year, the Global Leadership Program for Junior and Middle School, along with Grade 9’s Puma’s Den project, remain largely unchanged. However, our faculty have designed this year’s assignments so that they can be moved online at a moment’s notice.

“The pandemic has prompted our faculty to really consider their program and how they could ensure that the kids are successful no matter what—so whether we are face-to-face or at home, teachers have spent a lot of time putting things in place so that all of the critical components will be completed,” says Hunt.

For PC’s most senior students, the apex of the Global Leadership Program is the Capstone Project and this year has meant our students have needed to be creative in new ways. Rather than approaching organizations face-to-face, the pandemic has pushed students to develop their executive functioning skills of organization and interacting with adults by phone and by email. “It doesn’t sound like a lot, but for teenagers to actually go and on their own call an organization and speak to someone about their idea—it can be really tough for them,” says Hunt.

ADAPTING LEADS TO INNOVATION

Having to constantly adapt to changing circumstances has resulted in some innovative Capstone Projects this year. For instance, Thera Sze, Grade 12, developed a whole-school community-building program called the Puma Challenge. Knowing the importance of taking care of one’s physical and mental wellbeing,

Thera Sze, Grade 12

Thera developed weekly challenges that offer students an opportunity to earn House points—she then took it a step further by inviting students to propose environmental and social justice challenges that support their GLP projects.

“I believe this challenge can spread positive peer influence,” says Sze. “To promote others’ events, I created the Puma Challenge Instagram account to post posters and daily stories. Also, I decorated the bulletin board in the Senior School staircase to inform students about the upcoming events.”

Nick Hansraj, Grade 12

Nick Hansraj, Grade 12, is one student who took up Sze’s call to action by proposing an environmental justice challenge connected with his Capstone Project with a focus on improving water conditions in local bodies of water. While he could not travel to Toronto for primary research due to lockdowns as he had originally planned, he worked with the PC community service co-ordinator to plan a safe outdoor event and organized 10 PC students to do a clean-up at Fairy Lake for the Town of Newmarket.

Sasha Au Yong, Grade 12

For her Capstone Project, Sasha Au Yong, Grade 12, has focused on teaching people about Parkinson’s Disease. She completed and exhibited a thought-provoking painting and wanted to go further but realized her idea of connecting youth to elders for game nights was not going to work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, Sasha has harnessed her artistic talents and is writing and illustrating a storybook to teach young children about Parkinson’s.

“They have had to reframe so many different times that it’s really commendable when you look at what they’re doing,” says Hunt. “What the kids are showing us in much more subtle ways is a higher level of resiliency.”