Collegian Summer 2019

the
COLLEGIAN
SUMMER 2019
DANIEL
CATTORI
TIFFANY
CHEUNG

The Collegian is published twice each
year for alumni, family, and friends of
Niagara Christian Collegiate.
NCC BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Doug Sider Jr., Chair
Don McNiven, Vice Chair
Vivian Pengelly
Ron Rienas
Filomena Savoia
Bill Daley
President and CEO: Scott Herron
Principal: Chris Baird
Chief Operating Officer: Lynn Schmidt
Marketing & Communications
Sue Grierson
Contributing Writers
Meredyth Campbell
Sue Grierson
Anthony Haughton
Rachel Peters
Lynn Schmidt
Dr. E. Morris Sider
Photographers
Sue Grierson
Rachel Meissner
Alex Robertson
Niagara Christian Collegiate
2619 Niagara Parkway
Fort Erie, ON L2A 5M4
Phone: 905.871.6980
Fax: 905.871.9260
Email: LoveNCC@niagaracc.com
Website: www.niagaracc.com
The Mission of NCC
In an international community of schools,
to educate students with excellence in a
family-like environment, equipping them
to grow God's Kingdom, and empowering
them to make a difference in the world.
Greetings, NCC family and friends!
While it is always a bit sad to see the warm days of summer coming
to an end, the promise of a new school year awaits, and we are
anticipating another fantastic group of young people to grace our
campus this fall. We have been busy this summer preparing for the
opportunity we have been given to help shape another generation
of leaders and difference-makers for Christ. And, as always, let me
extend an invitation to each of you to visit our campus.
In this issue of the Collegian, we are pleased to showcase some
of our students from the closing out of the 2018-2019 school year.
What a great group of young people they are! In this issue, we also
share rich stories of NCC from quite a few years back, provided by
Dr. E. Morris Sider. In reading Dr. Sider’s narrative of his experiences
at NCC, I am most struck by the fact that while many aspects of life
are different today than they were decades ago, there are also familiar
threads that span generations. Students ask themselves what
they should do with their free time at NCC. NCC administrators and
teachers ask themselves how to best integrate our Christian faith
into the world we live in and into the lives of the students we serve.
And in all of the stories shared in this summer issue of the Collegian,
from just a couple of months ago to several decades ago, we see
the vital importance of strong Christian leadership in our staff to help
challenge and educate young thinkers. I am humbled to consider
the responsibility we have been given to educate with excellence,
knowing that the work we do for the Kingdom effects generations
to come.
Please join me in praying for the NCC community as we wrap up
these last days of summer and launch into a new year ahead. May
God continue to guide us and bless us as we do His work.
NCC's Annual General Meeting will take place
Tuesday, December 10, 2019, at 3:30 pm, in the
Fisher Memorial Conference Room.
Scott Herron
President and CEO

"Perhaps my dreams tell something
about my relationship to
NCC. I’m a prolific dreamer.
Many of my dreams are about
NCC, including discontinuing
college teaching and returning
to NCC to teach high school
there."
Dr. E. Morris and Leone Sider
MEMORIES and DREAMS
by Dr. E. Morris Sider
E. Morris Sider
My first day as a student at NCC was
life-changing. I had come for grade 13,
which was not offered in our local Selkirk
high school. When I entered Belmont
through the side door, I saw a pleasant-looking
young woman (Leone Dearing)
standing by the stairway in the otherwise
vacant vestibule. Our eyes met. She
gave me a lovely smile. Immediately and
instinctively I sensed that something more
than a smile lay in my future.
In time, we became engaged. After living
for two years in California as students at
Upland College, we returned to Ontario
for the summer and were married in the
chapel of NCC. After obtaining my M.A.
degree at Western University, I joined the
NCC faculty. Our two daughters, Karen
and Donna, spent, respectively, their first
seven and six years on the school’s campus
where we lived. Understandably, NCC
has been a significant part of our lives!
Leone Dearing
My experiences as a student at NCC (then
known as Ontario Bible School) in many ways were different from
my experiences in the Selkirk high school. At NCC, a strong spiritual
atmosphere prevailed over much of student life. Class periods
began with prayer, everyone (students and faculty) attended
daily chapel, revival meetings occurred twice a year, students took
required Bible courses, and from time to time the Gospel Team
gave programmes off campus. Not least important, we could relate
in meaningful ways with faculty because they were professing
and vocal Christians. The spiritual nourishment and life-directing
influence of such features were, of course, the major reason for
the existence of the school.
Dorothy Sherk was principal and a common favorite of students.
An excellent administrator, teacher and
counsellor, she was also sufficiently young
and forward-looking to gain our youthful
friendship and respect. Among her many
useful observations on life was her claim
that one could obtain a sufficient education
apart from formal schooling simply by
consistently reading a daily newspaper.
Pauline Herr from Pennsylvania was also
much admired, both for her intelligence
and her attractive appearance, the latter
feature being the subject of some conversation
among the boys. One day she came
to our history class in obvious elation. The
Republicans, she happily informed us, in
the election of the previous day had won
both houses of Congress.
cont'd on pg. 4
Dorothy Sherk
Pauline Herr
Collegian - Summer 2019 page 3

cont'd from pg. 3
I roomed on the top floor of Belmont in
one of the two rooms facing north. The
window in the small room did not fit well
in its frame; after a snowstorm, we could
expect to see a small pile of snow on the
floor.
The school’s yearbook claims that I was
“a lively resident of the fourth floor.” That
claim could also have been made of my
roommates - Arthur Heise and Clarence
Climenhaga. Our combined liveliness one
night resulted in one of my teeth getting
chipped by a bottle thrown by Arthur from
the bunk above where I lay. I did not have
the tooth repaired until many years later,
thus I carried for decades a too visible
mark of my student life at NCC.
A quartet that sang together for part of the
1946-47 school year: left to right: Henry Regier,
Morris Sider, John Reesor, Carl Heise
Meals were adequate, even for hungry
teenagers. Mary Lyons made basic foods
enjoyable—as much as could be expected.
I best remember a dish comprised
mainly of hamburger and macaroni, but
containing other sometimes unrecognizable
ingredients (“leftovers” we thought),
leading some of us to label the dish as
Grand Old Mixture (or GOM for short).
Apple butter was in good supply, being
donated by someone in the Kitchener-Waterloo
area. But its flavour was too much
diminished by “filler,” which probably was
pumpkin.
As teenagers we were understandably
interested in sports. But sports had their
limitations. We had no gymnasium, thus
sports were limited largely to those that
could be played outdoors, mainly baseball
and hockey, the latter in a scooped-out
area shortly to the west of Belmont.
Another limitation was the understanding
that sports could not be extramural.
During the winter of that year, the boys
talked about playing a hockey game
against Eden (a Mennonite high school in
the Vineland area). I mentioned our talk to
my father who (inadvertently, I think) mentioned
it to a couple of other ministers.
Soon two trustees arrived on campus to
speak with me. There would be no game
played with Eden, they declared, and I was
not to spread such talk again.
Not surprisingly, music was an important
part of our student life. Quartets, trios, a
mixed choir, four-part singing in chapel reflected
the music heritage of the school’s
constituencies. For part of a year I sang on
a quartet that included Henry Regier.
As my first-day experience suggests, NCC
was a place where special relationships
could be and often were formed, some of
them eventually leading to marriage. But
like sports, dating had limitations, such as
no dating at movies or dances or other activities
considered “worldly.” Where then
could students date?
Leone and my dating was something of
a general pattern. Our first date was a
bicycle ride around “the circle” near the
school, with Leone sitting on the crossbar.
Subsequently we dated by attending
Bible conferences, revival meetings, and
love feasts (special weekend services of
the Brethren in Christ). For one date, we
joined another couple (Arthur Heise and
Verna Climenhaga, a faculty member) to
travel to a Mennonite church east of Buffalo
for a music programme given by Eastern
Mennonite College (now University). There
for the first time I heard the song “Going
Morris and Leone hang school laundry in the
early stage of their friendship
Home” based on Antonin Dvorak’s New
World Symphony. (Whenever I now listen
to that symphony, I reflect on the loveliness
and educational value of that date.)
On our return to NCC, we bought two dozen
donuts, thus adding to the sweetness of
the occasion.
When we returned to NCC in 1955 to join
the staff, much had changed. Now the
school could boast of having a new name,
a gymnasium-auditorium, a grade 13, and
extended sports activities which included
a few extramural sports (and, yes, a game
with Eden).
What had not so much changed was the
occasional need for disciplinary action, for
which in my years as principal I had a major
responsibility. We sent one student home
for several days for playing pool in Fort
Erie. When several girls left campus without
permission, we gave each the penalty
of writing one hundred times a promise
never to repeat the offense. One student
whom we expelled arrived home prior to
my letter to his parents explaining the reasons
for their son’s expulsion. The parents
never received the letter.
In one instance, disciplinary resolve quickly
dissolved. I was standing in the vestibule
of Belmont when a student, Ronald J. Sider
(who later wrote Rich Christians in an
Age of Hunger fame),
cont'd on pg. 5
NCC Gym 1957
page 4

Middle School
VALEDICTORIANS
Jasmine Kayanja
Twin sisters Janine and Jasmine Kayanja were
selected by both their peers and teachers to
represent the middle school class as this year's
Valedictorians.
Both girls are intrinsically motivated to meet
success, are leaders within the classroom, and
have consistently raised the bar.
These twins have smiles that light up the room,
they are kind to their peers, and always strive for
excellence.
The girls' willingness-to-try attitude has become
contagious within NCCs Middle School classrooms
largely due to their efforts.
Janine Kayanja
Both girls are extremely coachable and participated
well in our athletic program. They practiced
excellent sportsmanship and were teamfirst
players.
During Christian Lifestyle classes, they offered
insight to spiritual discussions and demonstrated
their faith in the way in which they conducted
their lives.
Congratulations Jasmine and Janine!
These young women are twinspirational!
Anthony Haughton
Middle School Lead Teacher
cont'd from pg. 4
came running across the floor, a pail in
hand. In as stern a voice as I could muster,
I stopped him and said, “Ron. Stop!
You know perfectly well there is to be no
running in the vestibule.” In a polite voice,
Ron replied, “Yes, I know the rule. But I’m
running to get a pail of water because my
car is on fire.” I replied, “Keep on running!”
Hindsight, as the saying goes, is better
than foresight. I readily admit that I was
not always wise in my disciplinary action.
I take this opportunity to ask forgiveness
of all NCC students whom I unfairly punished.
I take more pleasure in thinking of the
many good students whom I was fortunate
to teach. To mention a few students I
taught and of whose careers I have a little
knowledge is to suggest the quality of the
student body as a whole: Ronald J. Sider,
John Gilmore, Roger Sider, Mark Charlton,
Neil Sider, Anna Ruth Sider, Donald
McNiven, and Roger Grant. Surely many
more names could be added to this list.
I completed my Ph.D. while teaching at
NCC. Then in 1963 our family moved to
Pennsylvania where I joined the faculty of
Messiah College. For many years I also
had a writing career, and I served as archivist
for Messiah College and the Brethren
in Christ Church. But our years at NCC
have remained a treasured memory.
A dream that has occurred many times
over the years illustrates the fondness that
remains for the school. In these dreams I
accept an invitation to return to teach at
NCC. When I arrive on campus, I always
ask myself, “Did I act wisely in leaving
an institution of higher learning to teach
again at NCC?” The answer that comes in
my dreams is always: “Yes, I did!”
Collegian - Summer 2019 page 5

CLASS of 2019
TIFFANY CHEUNG
Valedictorian
The valedictorian award is given on
the basis of outstanding academic
achievement and significant
contribution to school life.
Tiffany Cheung, our valedictorian this
year, came to NCC in grade nine and
has for four years consistently shown an
exceptionally high level of excellence
and a desire to be a part of school
life. Her high level of participation
could be seen through the countless
hours she has poured into our Arts
Council, Yearbook Committee, dorm
leadership, spiritual leadership teams,
and Student Council. She is helpful,
reliable, respectful, and creative.
In addition to her high level of
involvement, she has committed
herself to quality and care in her
studies, maintaining an overall average
well over 96% in her graduating year.
It is not surprising that this year's
Valedictorian is also the recipient
of this year's Grade 12 Academic
Proficiency medallion which is awarded
to the graduate earning the highest
average in grade 12 classes, as well as
demonstrating a keen interest in their
studies. As a student, she is insightful,
tenacious, complex, expressive,
teachable and models how to apply
feedback for growth.
It was my distinct pleasure to present
the 2019 Proficiency Award and the
Valedictorian Award to Ms. Tiffany
Cheung.
Rachel Peters
Director of Student Services

DANIEL CATTORI
Salutatorian
The Salutatorian is nominated by his or her peers to represent the
class by addressing the audience at graduation. Normally this award
would be handed out by academic staff but when I learned who this
year's recipient was, I asked Mr. Baird if he would make an exception,
and allow me to do the honours.
Daniel Cattori, our Salutatorian this year has been a student at NCC
for the past 5 years, during which time he has spent a total of 1752
plus hours in my office, most of which have been just this year!
He is an outstanding student and has achieved a high level of
academics, all while involving himself in dorm leadership, yearbook,
cross country, and student ministry leadership.
If there was an award for the most polite, well-mannered student
on campus, Daniel would win it hands down! He is well-respected
by faculty, staff, and peers and was voted the Salutatorian by the
graduating class. He is determined, wise, responsible, and is an
exceptional human being.
Lynn Schmidt
Chief Operating Officer
Collegian - Summer 2019 page 7

DAVID LAI
Duodecimus
Award
Recipient
The Duodecimus Award, voted
on by a committee representing
NCC administration,
faculty, residence directors,
and students, is the highest
honour given to an NCC
graduate. This award was established
by the Grade 12 Class of 1963.
The recipient of this award is selected based on the following
criteria:
The graduate making the most significant contribution
to the total life of NCC.
Someone who is spiritually, socially,
and academically superior.
A participant in at least one major
extracurricular activity.
A strong contributor to school spirit,
displaying a positive attitude toward NCC.
David Lai, our Duodecimus winner this year, came to NCC two
years ago and has consistently shown an intense desire to be
a part of all aspects of campus life. This year, his high level of
participation could be seen in campus ministries and athletics.
David has committed himself to his studies and his teachers
have remarked that through his hard work, he has shown significant
growth in his overall study habits and is an enthusiastic participant
in class discussions. In the dorm, he is a bridge-builder
and leads in ways that model integrity and maturity while still
being approachable and fun-loving. On the basketball, tennis,
and badminton courts, he plays with passion and drive, inspiring
his teammates to do the same.
David has also been voted by the Graduating Class as this year’s
Christian Leadership Award winner. This award is given to a student
who has shown consistency of Christian character, and a
willingness to be involved in the spiritual life of the school -
someone whose academic achievement is commensurate with
their potential. David demonstrates a deep devotion to Jesus
Christ and the kingdom-building mission of NCC through involvement
in the Christian Leadership Committee, The City
youth ministry, and the NCC Worship Team.
David will attend the University of Toronto to study Kinesiology.
We are very proud of this exceptional young man!
Meredyth Campbell
Vice Principal
L-R: Mrs. Lai, David Lai, Principal Chris Baird, Mr. Lai
Collegian - Summer 2019 page 8

Athlete—Musician—Artist and Team of the Year
For an individual student, these awards are presented annually to a student in each program who is considered the top
performer. The individual displays great character and is committed to the mission of NCC.
The Team of the Year award recognizes a NAVs team that has achieved a high standard of athletic accomplishment and
displayed qualities of leadership, fair play, and sportsmanship.
Congratulations to all of our winners!
LILY EMPRINGHAM
Athlete of the Year - Jr. Female
RACHEL SURIAWIDJAJA
Musician of the Year
LADI AGANGA
Athlete of the Year - Jr. Male
L-R: Coach Osborne, David Orsorio, Anthony Xu, Qudos Sose, Josiah Forde, Neil Wangler, Daniel Cattori
Team of the Year - Cross Country
NEIL WANGLER
Athlete of the Year Sr. Male
MIZUKI TANG
Artist of the Year
GABBY STUDEBAKER
Athlete of the Year Sr. Female
Collegian - Summer 2019 page 9

TIFFANY CHEUNG
President's Award
Is presented annually to an
individual who has shown extreme
commitment and dedication
to the team and athletic
program. This individual is a
player who best exemplifies
the importance of team success
over individual success
and exhibits a true passion
and love of the sport.
We celebrated the
accomplishments of our students
at the 2019 annual
NCC Athletics, Music, and Art
Awards Banquet
AMBROSE WOO
Matthew 20
Sugisaki Service Award
Is presented annually to an
individual who reflects the
Christian characteristics of
unselfishness, service, dedication,
and teamwork. The
student inspires others and
acts as a role model. (Matthew
20:16 The last shall be first!)
ROCK LANIYI
The X Factor Award
Is presented annually to an individual
who has demonstrated
a noteworthy or special
talent. Someone who regularly
brings that special eXtra to
the team!
CALEB FRETZ
Principal's Award
Is presented annually to an individual
who has demonstrated
a commitment to learning,
achieved a high academic
standing, and has made a significant
athletic impact. A true
scholar athlete.
RUBEN DUNNINK
Coach of the Year
Is presented annually to an
NCC coach who best exemplifies
the Christian principles
of Character, Integrity, Excellence,
Teamwork and Service.
DAYO WILLIAMS
Rookie of the Year
Is presented annually to an individual
who is in his/her first
year of competition at NCC
and has exhibited outstanding
team commitment and/or performance.
Collegian - Summer 2019 page 10

DRIVING THE MISSION
FORWARD
Niagara Christian Collegiate's faculty
and staff are passionate and determined
to see our students succeed
in their academic pursuits, and to see
them live a rich, purpose-filled life.
From a foundation of Biblical truth,
our teachers prepare students for this
life success by shaping character,
building intellect, instilling self-discipline,
and developing students' leadership
skills.
The education students receive at
Niagara Christian Collegiate is meaningful,
effective, and fruitful in the lives
of our students.
As a private Christian school in Ontario,
NCC does not receive any government
funding, nor does it have extensive
endowment funds to subsidize
operations or capital projects.
We also rely on the generosity of our
NCC community to support our students
in the way of scholarship funds,
endowments, and other giving opportunities.
Would you consider partnering with
us? Your donations have been, and
will continue to be, extremely valuable
in driving the mission and vision
of NCC forward.
In an international community of schools,
to educate students with excellence in a
family-like environment, equipping them
to grow God's Kingdom, and empowering
them to make a difference in the world.
For more information on
scholarship funds, endowments, and
other giving opportunities at NCC,
contact Sue Grierson at:
sgrierson@niagaracc.com
or call: 905.871.6980
page 11

EDUCATING STUDENTS WITH EXCELLENCE
• Top University Placements
• Family-like Environment
• Safe, Beautiful Campus
• Beautiful Boarding Facilities
• Caring Teachers
• Over 50 Years Specializing in ESL
• Expert Guidance Services
Book a campus tour today!
Contact our Enrollment team:
E: enroll@niagaracc.com
P: 905.871.6980
www.niagaracc.com | 2619 Niagara Parkway, Fort Erie, ON L2A 5M4 | 905.871.6980 | enroll@niagaracc.com