Taking a charge: Nick Whitelaw's selfless attitude serves the Quabbin community

Quabbin boys basketball head coach Dennis Dextradeur described what he thinks are the three moments in basketball that will always get the crowd on their feet.

A slam dunk is one of them, causing fans to jump up and shout after witnessing a rare play in high school basketball. The second instance is a Hail Mary pass down the court or no-look to a teammate cutting toward the basket – a nifty, slick pass. The skill of a crisp pass will always get reactions out of the crowd.

The first two require talent – hours in the gym, time spent increasing their vertical jump, reps on reps until the pass is muscle memory. The third moment, however, takes talent but also something different. The something different that Dextradeur sees in senior captain Nick Whitelaw – selflessness.

Whitelaw did not contribute the most points or assists on the team, or even the most rebounds or steals. What he did top the charts in, though, was drawing offensive fouls.

The third play that Dextradeur said makes a crowd go crazy is when a player takes a charge.

The bigger picture

Whitelaw was the only senior on the Panthers boys basketball team this season. His leadership skills, observed by both Dextradeur and his fellow teammates, led him to team captaincy. Despite a 4-16 struggling season, Whitelaw led by quiet example and focused on important aspects outside of basketball, like tutoring teammates.

"To rise to the position of being a captain and not being an all-star is a little unusual in sports," Dextradeur said. "But Nick rose to that capacity by being somebody that the young players looked to as a big brother and somebody that they could emulate and talk to."

More: An Elite Eight: These Gardner-area hockey players nominated for Player of the Year

His impact is something that many have said will continue well into his adulthood due to his passion for serving his community. Whether its student council, National Honor Society or his role on the school committee, he gives his all for those around him.

Making a change in the community

Since he was young, Whitelaw became very passionate about being in a leadership position to help influence education.

"One of the major things definitely is both my parents have worked in the education system when I was growing up,” Whitelaw said.

“One of the things I discussed with my parents when I was younger was kind of how sometimes adults in schools, they don’t necessarily work with kids, they just deal with a kid in whatever’s happening in a classroom. That’s one of the things that got me started was trying to help change that and make it so everyone understands that is happening."

He joined student council as a freshman and through that experience, he learned about the Massachusetts State Student Advisory Council. The SSAC works with the Department of Education and Board of Education to implement positive changes within the state's educational guidelines. Whitelaw first was a part of the regional council, of which he is now chair, and also was chosen to be a delegate on the state council.

Within these councils are a variety of workgroups that Whitelaw participates in. He has contributed to the health and wellness workgroup that advocated for CPR and AED training in high schools as well as the student representation workgroup, that led to him becoming the student representative on the Quabbin school committee, along with junior Isabel Coviello.

More: After a grim diagnosis as a newborn, Kaelyn McDermott is now the queen of the court

"One of the things that has been really noticeable is Nick's desire to be really involved," Quabbin superintendent Colleen Mucha said. "Nick has a true desire to learn."

While he is only required to attend the typical school committee meetings as an ex officio member, Whitelaw attends other meetings, like for the budget subcommittee, asking questions and giving his feedback from a student perspective.

Passion to lead

As a member of the National Honor Society, Whitelaw has taken action in many different ways to give back. One of those opportunities has been as a tutor, both with his peers at the high school and helping at local elementary schools.

“In our district we have some students whose first language is Spanish so Nick has been willing to volunteer after school, going down to one of the elementary schools to work with students that could use a little bit of help because of their language barriers," said Rebecca Cooley, a Spanish teacher at Quabbin as well as the NHS advisor.

Although tutoring is one of the requirements for members of NHS, Whitelaw needed no instruction to do so, as he was already helping teammates and other students in his own free time.

In all he does, he is thinking about his peers and the ways in which his impact can help improve the student experience.

“Advocating for students in general has always been a big thing for me, especially in a school system where students are a big factor," Whitelaw said. "Any kind of rule or decision-making, especially at the school board level, impacts the students and the majority of people in a school are students.”

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Taking a charge: Nick Whitelaw's selfless attitude serves the Quabbin community