Tag Archives: ORs

Alumni, Just for fun!

TransfORming Our Globe – Ted Kirkpatrick ’05 & Adrian Pennachetti ‘05

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For this month’s installment of the TransfORming Our Globe series, we’re sharing the story of alumni, Ted Kirkpatrick ’05 and Adrian Pennachetti ‘05, who saw a business opportunity that was both environmentally sustainable and prosperous. Read about how these two Ridleians started Tree to Table – a Niagara based company that salvages, mills, cuts and converts reclaimed wood into live-edged tables.

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In 2001, Ted and Adrian first met. Throughout the course of their time as Tigers, both boys were active members of the Ridley community. Ted and Adrian were House Captains during their final year, they could be often found on the field or rink, and were both involved in the arts at Ridley – working on set designs and playing in the Cadet Band.

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After Ridley, Adrian and Ted attended McGill University and Wilfred Laurier University, respectively. It was years later, when both Ridleians had their focus directed elsewhere, that Tree to Table was born. After a wind storm at Adrian’s family farm, Ted and Adrian were cleaning up the fallen trees. A beautiful, black walnut tree had come down and they didn’t want to see it go to waste. They saw the potential to turn it into a piece of furniture, and a business was born. Ted did wood-working as a hobby, and while at Ridley, both Ted and Adrian learned wood-working skills from Mr. Giles Campbell, the Design Technology teacher, who still teaches students today.

When Ted and Adrian graduated high school, they left Ridley with time-management skills and the ability to focus on the task at hand, but they said that their biggest take-away was the connections they made. When their business began to take off, their Ridley connections were the direct cause. Their workshop was rented from a Ridley parent, many of their first customers were Ridleians, and their materials were – and still are – harvested and collected from a Ridley family farm.

Ted and Adrian take great care in ensuring their products are completed with the utmost quality and sustainability. It can take up to eight months for a product to be completed, from the collecting of the dead trees to the sealing of the tables. All of their wood is salvaged from standing dead trees, which would have otherwise been used for firewood.  The wood must then be brought to the sawmill, stacked, and fully dried out, all before they begin to form the reclaimed wood into a usable table. Although it may seem like a long process, it ensures that Tree to Table remains green, and that each customer receives a top of the line product.

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In the last four years, business has been nonstop for Tree to Table and has nearly doubled each year since they began. One of the company’s recent jobs was creating and installing all of the live-edge tables in Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Garrison House. Since both Ted and Adrian have full-time jobs, they work hard to maintain a balance between their other commitments and Tree to Table. While they love their other jobs, Tree to Table gives them a creative outlet and a place to relieve stress. With their recent success, the business partners have begun discussing where to take their company next.

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To Ridleians who are looking to start their own businesses, Ted and Adrian gave some of advice:

“When you see an opportunity, you have to capitalize on it. Don’t wait around. Be mindful of your life. Find a healthy balance between your work and your personal life. Let your business flourish, but not at the expense of your wellbeing”

– Ted Kirkpatrick ‘05

“Be a sponge. Ask questions and surround yourself with strong mentors.”

– Adrian Pennachetti ‘05

TransfORming Our Globe is a blog series where we share the exciting stories of alumni who are leading flourishing lives and changing the world. It is important to Ridley College to support our alumni and share the stories of Old Ridleians, who discovered their passion and found success and happiness down the path of their choosing. 

Do you know of any classmates that are living flourishing lives or transforming our globe? Email any suggestions for the TransfORming Our Globe blog series to development@ridleycollege.com.

 

Alumni, Ridley News, Upper School

Ridleians Use CPR Training to Save Lives

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This summer, two former Ridleians found themselves at the forefront of life or death situations and thanks to their physical education at Ridley, they knew exactly what to do.

Ridley’s physical education programme aims to contribute to the healthy development of our students physical, mental and social well-being. A part of that means discovering how students can contribute to the well-being of peers and their community. Among their lessons, students are taught how to appropriately respond during an emergency situation, to better prepare them if someone is in need.

Upon entering Upper School, our students are taught basic life-saving skills during their physical education classes. By Grade 11, students are certified in Basic Level CPR, Standard/Emergency First Aid and are taught how to operate AED (defibrillator) units. The students have the chance to further enhance their training if they choose to pursue their National Life Saving (NLS) certification as a co-curricular activity.

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“From our point of view, these are life skills that everyone should learn. You never know when you are going to find yourself in a position to help someone in need.”                                 – Jay Tredway, Director of Athletics

Retired physical education teacher, Mr. Dave Whitty, said that during his career, the students were keen to learn the skills needed to appropriately respond in an emergency situation. He also recalls numerous occasions where students and staff members – himself included – were required to take action in order to save another’s life.

Recently, two former Ridleians were put into harrowing situations where their CPR training, confidence and quick reactions saved lives.

On July 20th, 2016, 19-year-old Jarrod Camroux-Peacock ‘15 and his father Erik Peacock came to the aid of a customer and family friend, who began choking while dining. Acting quickly, Erik and Jarrod both performed the Heimlich maneuver and tried to clear the obstruction, as the man began to lose consciousness and turn blue from oxygen deprivation. Jarrod and his father were able to dislodge the obstruction from his airway prior to the ambulance arriving on site.

Soon after the incident Jarrod made a phone call to his high school teacher and basketball coach at Ridley; expressing his gratitude to him for having taught him how to react in emergency situations and for providing proper emergency response training.

Another former Ridley student, Nick Prestia ’16, has used his CPR training twice since attending Ridley. The first incident occurred in 2015, when Nick was attending a hockey training camp in Boston. A two-year-old girl was left unattended at the hotel swimming pool and had fallen into the water. Nick saw the young girl and pulled her out of the water. When he realized she wasn’t breathing, he began to perform CPR that had been modified for an infant – another skill he had learned during his physical education at Ridley. Nick managed to revive the two-year-old and alert her parents.

The second incident occurred last month on July 26th, 2016, when Nick’s hockey instructor was concussed during drill training and began experiencing seizures. The instructor wasn’t breathing, so Nick began performing CPR until someone nearby – who was also trained in CPR – came to relieve Nick. By this time, the concussed instructor had begun to breathe again. Nick too reached out to Ridley to express his gratitude for his training.

“Always remember to trust in your abilities because you never know when your actions can affect someone’s life. I’m blessed to have been able to use my knowledge of CPR to help to people and I encourage others to go out of their way to learn CPR. You never know when you might need to use it, take my word for it.” – Nick Prestia ‘16

In all three incidents, these former Ridleians sprang into action without hesitation. Congratulations to Jarrod and Nick. Ridley is proud to have had the privilege to guide these students, and many others.