Interview with Niagara Christian Collegiate Alum, Scott Sutherland
Scott Sutherland, an alum of Niagara Christian Collegiate, talks about how the school's tight-knit, multicultural community and small class sizes create a unique, family-like atmosphere. He emphasizes that the deeply invested teachers provide personalized attention that builds character, faith, and prepares students exceptionally well for university.
Highlights from the interview
The community is probably the biggest part. It's a very tight-knit school. It's smaller than a lot of public schools out in that area, so you're a tight-knit family—everybody knows everybody. The teachers are really invested in you and are very interested in what's going on with you and want to make sure that you feel like you're included and you're part of the family. That’s partially due to the size, and that's one of the things that really ties everybody together.
- The teachers really care about you. They have your best interests in mind and are going to do anything to make your experience at the school the best it can be and make you the best person that you can be. In the personal interactions with different teachers, they really speak into you, like, “You're really good at that, keep doing that”—that’s honestly probably why I went in the direction that I am for the career I'm in today. So, in a practical sense, the teachers show you what you should pursue, and that’s where I am today because of the words that the teachers said to me.The teachers really care about you. They have your best interests in mind and are going to do anything to make your experience at the school the best it can be and make you the best person that you can be. In the personal interactions with different teachers, they really speak into you, like, “You're really good at that, keep doing that”—that’s honestly probably why I went in the direction that I am for the career I'm in today. So, in a practical sense, the teachers show you what you should pursue, and that’s where I am today because of the words that the teachers said to me.The teachers really care about you. They have your best interests in mind and are going to do anything to make your experience at the school the best it can be and make you the best person that you can be. In the personal interactions with different teachers, they really speak into you, like, “You're really good at that, keep doing that”—that’s honestly probably why I went in the direction that I am for the career I'm in today. So, in a practical sense, the teachers show you what you should pursue, and that’s where I am today because of the words that the teachers said to me.
The teachers want to build in you a Christian faith and build that spiritual aspect of your life. I know for a fact they are praying for those students and wantwanting the best for them. They really want the best for their students and are trying to build that and let the students see that.
Following graduating from Niagara Christian Collegiate, I felt a lot more prepared, and I could see that compared to a lot of my peers, I was a lot more prepared to deal with what you have to deal with in university and the style of learning that's required. I think we built a lot more grit and resiliency when I was there.
Having smaller class sizes gets the most focused attention and gets the best out of the student in terms of their academic potential. I was in one class in high school that had three students in it. You have a lot of one-on-one time with a teacher to really master a subject and concepts that you might not otherwise get focused time on. Teachers will be able to see, “Hey, this student’s really good at this,” so they'll feed into that and let them explore that aspect of their learning and really try to get the most out of the student. A lot of students don't get the attention they need in a classroom of 30 or 40 people. I think the largest class I had was maybe 24, and that was a big class.
In terms of identifying an NCC student, I feel like an NCC student is a lot more courteous and well-spoken. At a sporting event or something like that, that's how we stand out. We're showing encouragement for our team members, and just the way we present ourselves is a little more gentle and courteous.
NCC is that friend that's kind of always there. To this day, NCC is still there. It's part of you, it becomes part of you, and you're part of it. It's that loyal friend that's just always there, always wants to know what's going on, how your life is going, what's new, and wants to keep in touch.
I can see the school more holistically now. I can see how every single aspect of the school plays together and how decisions are made. I had a lot more opportunities in high school than the average student would have. I think it made me a more balanced and rounded person going into post-secondary education. NCC is a very reputable school in terms of the students that leave the school. I don't remember the university acceptance rates, but basically, almost 100% acceptance out of the school.
One thing that I felt was that there would be an opportunity to even further prepare students for post-secondary education. When I was there, they had started what they called a University Week, where they would alter the class schedules to more reflect a post-secondary education and what would be expected in university workload-wise, class layout-wise. There would be more opportunities to push that even further as you get further along in your secondary school education.
A lot of students at NCC would be living in dorms. Get familiar with the dorms, get familiar with dorm staff. If you can, talk to dorm staff, talk to students, and hear what their experience is like. If you have the opportunity to talk to somebody on campus—a student or a teacher—hear what they have to say about the school and ask questions. Enjoy your time while you're there. It's a beautiful place to be. It's a beautiful campus.
One thing with NCC that's different than a lot of schools is we have a large multicultural community, and so you get to experience a lot of other cultures and get to know people from all over the world that you wouldn't get to know otherwise. You can't understand the value of being educated in that sort of environment until you've been there and you understand and get the different viewpoints and different perspectives of people. You miss out on that if you were in, say, a different public school or even some other private schools in the area. You get a full picture on a lot of different issues and topics. I got to experience so much more than the average student would have. I got to travel the world, I got to meet people from all over the world, and I got to have all the different perspectives and viewpoints of people all around the world integrated into my education.
