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PC values inspire healthcare innovation
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–David Crook ’67
–David Crook ’67
Simple, yet powerful messages of giving, gratitude, and seizing opportunities in life were shared with Pickering students by David Crook ’67.
Crook visited Pickering in April as a Leader in Residence, a program to bring outstanding and accomplished leaders to share their experience, insights, and advice to our students. Crook has decades of experience as an entrepreneur and business owner. His company was a world leader in highly technical automation manufacturing equipment.
In 2015, Crook received the prestigious “50 best managed businesses in Canada” award. More recently, he has been contributing his innovative mindset and philanthropy to Global Surgery and the Bethune Medical Development Association. He uses his contacts to collect donations of discarded medical equipment that is outdated by Canadian standards, but still safe and usable. The Global Surgery volunteer team has used the equipment to transform shipping containers into community care centres and surgical suites that are then transported to developing countries and moved as needed.
Crook spoke about how privileged he feels to have been given the opportunities he has, and the strong desire to give back. “Every now and then that Athenian youth pledge slips into my mind where we really need to try and make the world a better place than when we found it. And that is one of the lingering thoughts I have of Pickering College. The first time I read that I was overcome with a feeling of responsibility.”
Throughout the day he visited with various classes including the Grade 3 and 4 classes working on LEGO Robotics, the Grade 11 entrepreneurship class, and the Grade 11 students whose Capstone projects are focusing on healthcare innovation. He shared with Pickering students that innovation was not just about ideas, but working with people who are open to new ways of doing things.
“Having a Leader In Residence with such a wealth of experience in both business and philanthropy is so inspirational for our students as they consider the direction their own lives will take,” says Julia Hunt, Director of the Global Leadership Program, “David’s thoughtful and detailed responses to questions about his businesses in the Grade 11 entrepreneurship class gave them a lot to both consider and aspire to. Connecting to an accomplished alumnus gives our current students a glimpse into the exciting potential of their future lives.”
Crook’s midday interview with Grade 12 students Justin Kim and Carson Proctor on radio station 102.7 CHOP FM was an opportunity to reflect on his time at Pickering. “I had some of the most wonderful, dedicated teachers that sincerely cared about what you were doing and your development as an individual—as well as your marks of course. Great guidance in terms of academics, and the quality of education was just so superior. Some of those teachers you’ll remember your whole life. I credit them with shaping some of my ideas today.”
During the radio interview with Crook, Kim confirmed that teacher care and attention to the development of students academically and as individuals continues today, as the two discussed changes to the buildings on campus over the years. “There have been some physical changes but the ambiance and the feelings you get as you walk through the halls, they stay there,” says Crook.
His message to the senior students focused on the influence Pickering College had on his life, both the guiding values of the Athenian pledge and the lifelong friendships he made here. He told the students he keeps in closer touch with the friends he made during two years at Pickering than in all his years at university, attributing it to the closeness the students felt at Pickering and the strong sense of community. “The values and principles this school was founded on, if you continue to practice them, will serve you well your whole life.”
