[ School News ]
Whitney Weldon ’11 Receives 2011 Stifel Award Since age eight, Whitney Weldon ’11 has been suffering from FOP (Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva), a genetic disease so rare that it affects one person out of every two million people. There are 700 confirmed cases around the world and 185 known cases in the United States. FOP causes the body’s soft tissues to turn into bone, essentially creating a secondary skeleton. It is one of the most disabling medical conditions in the world, and there are no effective treatments or cures. Recognizing her courageous battle against FOP, Trustee Henry Stifel ’83 returned to the Martinsville Campus on April 18, 2011, to present Whitney with the Stifel Award in an assembly that he says represents awe-inspiring stories. “The greatest obstacle for all of us is overcoming a paralysis when we’re facing a challenge,” Mr. Stifel told the audience. As psychology teacher and school counselor Dr. Mike Richardson said in his remarks, “you see a student in a different way—the recipient of this award teaches all of us lessons about life.” Whitney was the 28th recipient of the Stifel Award, established in 1984.
28 the pingry review
This honor acknowledges extraordinary members of the Pingry community who have faced and continue to face significant challenges in their lives while, at the same time, helping others. Mr. Stifel, for whom the award is named, was paralyzed in an automobile accident during his junior year at Pingry, and part of the award description reads: “It shall be awarded to the person who best exemplifies those characteristics exhibited by Henry G. Stifel III in the aftermath of his accident and spinal injury: courage, endurance, optimism, compassion, and spirit.” The Stifel Award offers a unique opportunity to single out a special person who might otherwise not be recognized. Whitney has dedicated countless hours to raising money for FOP research.
Trustee Henry Stifel ’83 with Whitney Weldon ’11, her parents William Weldon IV ’72 and Hillary Weldon, and Marsha Baldinger P ’11.
Among her efforts, and to involve a younger demographic in the fight against FOP, she and a group of friends organized a benefit concert with teenage rapper Sam Adams in Morristown, New Jersey in June 2010. She also organized a cosmetics seminar, “Beauty That Gives Back,” with celebrity makeup artist Bobbi Brown in May 2011. Pingry has also raised over $150,000 for FOP. News arrived on April 3, 2011 that a potential treatment had been discovered—five years after the FOPcausing gene was identified, and 10 years after Whitney’s diagnosis. In the words of presenter Marsha Baldinger, mother of Tori Meyer ’11, “Whitney is a unique recipient of the Stifel Award, because she continues to adapt to her condition, moving forward, forward, forward.” Ms. Baldinger used a string of adjectives to describe Whitney’s approach to life: unstoppable, irrepressible, dignified, beautiful, and courageous. As an example of her determination not to let FOP prevent her from living life to the fullest, Whitney earned a varsity letter as a team manager for the girls’ varsity soccer team, girls’ varsity lacrosse team, and varsity field hockey team. She kept
score, organized statistics, made sure the players were aware of all necessary travel logistics, took attendance, compiled schedules of upcoming opponents (Pingry coaches attended some of those games for scouting purposes), communicated game results and statistics to newspapers, and submitted post-game reports to the Athletics Department—to name just a few of her tasks. “Whitney seemed to enjoy being responsible for taking care of the team, and the girls loved being with her and drew inspiration from her ‘can do’ attitude,” says physical education teacher and former girls’ varsity lacrosse head coach Tony Garcia P ’06, ’10. A Pingry lifer, Whitney is attending Georgetown University and pursuing a career as an event planner. For more information about FOP and the Weldon FOP Research Fund, visit www.weldonfop.org and www.ifopa.org. Mr. Stifel, who completed all 13 years of school at Pingry (including four years at Short Hills Country Day School, where he entered pre-Kindergarten in 1970), works in Manhattan for Morgan Stanley.