How PC staff and students are working toward social justice

Social Justice: the equitable and fair distribution of resources, opportunities, and privileges among all people.

Social justice has been on the minds of many in the past few years, as both global and local challenges have highlighted the injustices within society. Two groups at Pickering College are working hard to support and promote social justice— defined as the equitable and fair distribution of resources, opportunities, and privileges among all people—both in their local community and globally. The Youth Action Organization and Staff Social Justice Fund are furthering PC’s mission to make the world greater, better, and more beautiful and upholding the school’s values of community, compassion, integrity, respect, and responsibility.

Victoria Zalewski is a Grade 12 student and the current chair of the Youth Action Organization (YAO), made up of Senior School students who meet biweekly during the school year to work on social justice issues. Its members research and deliver presentations during Morning Meetings on current and emerging topics such as the situation in Iran or local food insecurity and homelessness. They also plan and execute fundraising activities like candygrams for Valentine’s Day or food drives in support of the Newmarket Food Pantry and send cards to local seniors during the holidays.

“We’re trying to make our community a little better, a little more aware,” says Zalewski. “I think that’s important because at our school there are people who definitely have privilege and more power, and if you are informed and have the opportunities to make change, then that change is more likely to happen.”

She says the YAO’s work fosters compassion and empathy among students: “It’s helped us understand people in different situations than ourselves. I think it’s very important to have compassion for others; you need to understand what it’s like to be in their shoes, and I think Youth Action Organization helps us do that, and simultaneously helps us give back to the community.”

Janet Downer, Assistant Head of School, Academics and Student Programs, coordinates the Staff Social Justice Fund, which raises money through payroll deductions and donates it to social justice organizations both in Newmarket and around the world. Downer says the fund currently has 63 members, which means about half of all staff at PC are participating.

Each time the Fund’s account balance hits around $10,000, Downer says she emails all participants to ask for suggestions about where to donate that money. She then compiles a list of all the suggested organizations and sends it back out to members who provide their top two or three preferred recipients. The available funds can be split between the most-selected organizations.

Downer says the initiatives supported by the Fund are often tied to work being done in the school and the projects students are working on.

“We are a school based on the Quaker values, and social justice is a big part of that. We’re asking our students to do global leadership projects and to get involved in social justice projects, so this was a way that the staff could also model the values of the school and participate in social justice initiatives,” Downer says.

In recent years, the Staff Social Justice Fund has supported the Native Men’s Residence in Toronto and a project called Save the Evidence at Mohawk Residential School in Brantford, Ontario, which is restoring the building as an educational centre “so we don’t forget what took place there,” Downer says. “Our school has quite a strong Indigenous focus; we are incorporating more Indigenous education and being very mindful of that.”

The Fund has also donated to Inn From the Cold, which provides winter shelter for people experiencing homelessness in Newmarket; the Yonge Street Meeting, a local Quaker organization that does community outreach work; and the Small Project, founded by a former PC teacher, which supports students in Kenya financially to go to boarding schools.

“That was one of the early organizations that we supported,” Downer says. “We feel that’s very much in line with what we do at our school. We get reports on how the organization is doing, the kind of work they do, and how it’s helping the students in Kenya.”

Downer says the organizations suggested by Fund participants change as the needs of the community and the world around them change. Last year, for example, a staff member who was working with a group in Newmarket to resettle a family of Afghan refugees brought a donation proposal to the Fund, which was accepted.

The magic of payroll deductions means that even as money is donated, more is being added to replenish the Fund.

“It’s amazing to me that I can say ‘OK, how much is in the fund?’ and then find out there’s 10 to 12 thousand dollars—where did that come from so quickly?” Downer says.

For her part, Zalewski says the YAO is constantly growing and thinking up new ideas and ways to help out, and she’s proud of what they’ve been able to achieve during her time with the organization.

“Every year, every new group of students brings something different to the team. I’m proud to see where we’ve gone and hopeful to see what will happen even after I leave.”