Donna Blackstock, VHS 1972, Always Giving 1000%

by King Lee, VHS 1958

There was a time in Victoria High School’s history when things were more black than gold. Keith McCallion, former Vic High Principal, 1989 to 1994, and current Alumni activist,  remembers that the enrolment had sunk to 407 Grade 11 and 12 students the year he started at Vic High. School District 61 had an open boundaries policy at the time, allowing students to transfer if their desired courses weren’t available in their catchment area “Mt. Douglas and Oak Bay were the benefactors of Vic High’s hemorrhaging enrolment,” says Keith. If it wasn’t for many who believed in Vic High, like Physical Education teacher and former student Donna Blackstock, who knows if Vic High would exist today. “She gave a thousand per cent to everything she did,” says Keith, “and really helped turn things around.”

Donna’s grad year at Vic High was a busy one. The Tikis (girls’ volleyball), the Tigers (girls’ basketball), and the Badminton Club (coached by 1968 alumnus Roger Skillings), all benefitted from Donna’s talent and dedication. She even made the All-Star Basketball Team at the BC Provincials in 1972.  She likely had no idea her career trajectory would include ongoing dedication to these sports she loved.

Donna was born in Victoria to John Blackstock and Phyllis Waters and attended Quadra elementary, S. J. Willis junior high and Vic High before graduating from the University of Victoria with a Bachelor of Education degree. During her UVic days, Donna was asked to coach the Vic High and S.J. Willis girls’ volleyball teams, all while continuing her studies. Despite the challenges, this proved to be excellent training as she would later coach Spectrum girls to two provincial basketball championships. It also helped prepare her for her future job in P.E. “Saying yes to these opportunities was an excellent decision,” says Donna, “but I honestly don’t know how I pulled it off.”

Donna put her UVic degree to work, and began her teaching and coaching careers at Spectrum Secondary School in 1977. On her first day at Spectrum, teacher Dennis Swonnell asked her if she was interested in helping with the volleyball program. “I was up to my ears right from Day 1,” she said. In May of 1985, two P.E. teachers had to be dropped from Spectrum. Donna was shocked to learn that she was “excess to needs” and out of a job in July. Thankfully she was recruited by Vic High Principal Dave Watkins, to join the staff there. (Dave’s grandfather, Charles Elwood Watkins, was the architect of the original 1914 Vic High building. In 1912 he’d been appointed school architect for the Victoria Board of Education and designed what some described as the ‘crown jewel of Victoria schools’ at 1349 [now 1260] Grant Street.)

 

P.E. had become an elective program at Vic High and extra-curricular sports were about to become extinct. Vic High’s student numbers didn’t warrant hiring an additional PE teacher, but Watkins had convinced the District that numbers would be up by September, partly by converting to a semester schedule for the first time. Donna was hired. She taught Social Studies as well as P.E. at a school with a shrinking student population and a sports program that was all but cancelled. But in a bold move, Principal Watkins and Donna decided to ignore the plan to step away from district league play at least temporarily. “I had walked into a school with no (sports) programs.” Donna recalls, “so we were always working to build them back up.”

Keith McCallion says Donna coached “everything that moved” and was tireless. He remembers taking his two daughters to a volleyball tournament to watch Vic High girls play. He saw the six girls playing, and an empty bench. Between games, Keith asked Donna where the rest of the team was and was shocked at the answer. “This is it,” she replied. Gus McTavish, who taught at Vic High from 1970 until he became the vice principal in 1982, agreed with Keith’s assessment of Donna. “She was a superstar,” Gus said. “She was prepared, she was ready to roll.” Gus, who went from Vic High to Cedar Hill Junior High and finally to the School District 61 administrative offices in 1990, said the open boundaries policy was  to blame for Vic High’s situation, but added, “Whatever we were given, we helped make good kids out of them.”

In Donna’s second year coaching Vic High volleyball, a student died from an aneurism during practice. The student’s parents contributed the Linda Scott Memorial Trophy for the most improved player in memory of their daughter. It was a traumatic event for both Donna and the team, but that team qualified for the BC Provincials Tournament and was rewarded with the most sportsmanlike team award. Everyone was aware of everything they had been through just a few weeks earlier.

During her 21 years as a Vic High teacher, Donna coached volleyball, basketball and track as well as supervising the school’s soccer program in the early years. Another principal, Denis Harrigan, wanted to start a career preparation program at Vic High. So Donna created one for coaching based on the model of offering elementary volleyball clinics and tournaments in the spring of each year. She also became a certified Level One Coaching Facilitator. That meant students could receive both the technical and the practical side of sport which also included being a referee. “In theory, the Career Prep in Coaching was brilliant,” she said. “In practice, it didn’t do as much as it should have.”

In the late ‘80s, Judy Bourne, a former staff member and coach who was working with Vic High and Ma’kola Housing, came back to Vic High to coach the boys’ volleyball team. Together she and Donna built the elementary volleyball program which included clinics at most Greater Victoria elementary schools in the 18 years that it ran. “We charged $30 for the clinics,” says Donna, “but they drew as many as 60 kids on some occasions.” They charged the same fee for the girls and boys’ elementary tournaments held each year at Vic High. That money went into the Vic High volleyball account to help with expenses such as travel and tournament entry fees. “The Vic High (volleyball) kids were outstanding with the elementary kids,” Donna remembers. Donna, who was by then Vic High’s Athletic Director, continued to run the volleyball program alone after Judy passed away in 1989.

Well-known Vic High teacher and athletics coach, George “Porky” Andrews, had retired from Vic High before Donna joined the staff in 1985. So they never worked together. In 1969 he’d stopped coaching Vic High teams, but had made an exception to coach the girl’s basketball team in 1971/72 that included Donna. “Somehow we qualified for the BC Championship in Terrace that year,” she says.  “I think it was the “aura” of Porky Andrews!” Donna said the legendary coach with a reputation for intensity dealt with the players on that team in a much milder manner. He grew into that role and soon after in 1975, the Vic High Tigers won the B.C. championship. It was a remarkable achievement by Porky to have coached provincial champions in both the girls’ and boys’ divisions in his illustrious career. Donna fondly remembered that Andrews had written a letter for her application for a Premier’s Athletic Award. That $500 paid her first-year UVic tuition.

In recalling her teaching career, Donna emphasized that she gave as much to her Social Studies lessons as she did to P.E. “I even did one year as Vice-Principal when someone assigned to the school went on medical leave right at the end of August,” she says.

Donna definitely remembers driving the Vic High bus for many years, particularly one trip when the engine blew up near Mt. Vernon, Washington while taking youth to a workshop in Portland, Oregon. A monumental rescue operation ensued. Washington State Troopers attended (smoke was pouring out of the bus), and assisted by connecting with the rest of the travelling convoy and arranging for the bus to be towed to a GMC dealer. Members of the convoy returned with a rental car for Donna, and Vic High students squeezed into other cars for the remainder of the trip. Principal Watkins and Vice-Principal McTavish went to Mt. Vernon the following week to drive the repaired bus home.

Donna has great memories of working with Vic High principals Dave Watkins, Denis Harrigan, Keith McCallion and Keith Forshaw. “They were always aware of the load on my plate,” says Donna,  “and always came down to the gym to welcome the elementary school volleyball players at the tournaments in the hopes that many would return one day as students and athletes.”

After Donna retired, the Vic High Female Athlete Award became the Donna Blackstock Award. It remains to this day one of the highly coveted awards given out at Vic High.

“I can’t say that my Vic High career wasn’t challenging,” says Donna, “but it certainly was rewarding.”

Donna Blackstock was a critical part of Vic High’s history, and we are all grateful for her wisdom, her persistence, and her determination in supporting Vic High students over the years.