"How many people do something they really believe in? I just wish people would realize anything is possible if you try. Dreams are made possible if you try." Terry Fox
This week we came together as a school to run. When we talk to students about why we run and what the essence of the Terry Fox Run is they came up with a variety of provocations. What does it mean to be a Hero? Who was Terry Fox? Why do we run for him? If you have ever listened to a room full of children share their thoughts and ideas you can imagine that it gets messy and thoughts overlap, ideas collide and new opinions are formed. There were many common threads woven through conversations; perseverance, resiliency, sacrifice, integrity... As our students ran they shared some stories of who they were running for and how much they cared. Some ran for grandparents, some ran for friends, some ran for Terry. It didn’t matter who they ran for they simply ran. When we were finished students shared stories of the number of laps they ran, how fast they ran, they were competitive in a friendly way with each other but in the end they knew the reason we run. Why do we run? We run for hope because the opposite of hope is not an option for us. Hope brings us new ideas, it brings us a future. That is what the students say they run for, all those glorious laps aside, they run Terry because he instilled a deep and enduring hope for the future in all of us. That is what a hero does. Thank you for the Hope Terry. Thank you Haysboro students for keeping this dream alive. “A new journey to be started. A new promise to be fulfilled. A new page to be written. Go forth unto this waiting world with pen in hand, all you young scribes, the open book awaits. Be creative. Be adventurous. Be original. And above all else, be young. For youth is your greatest weapon, your greatest tool. Use it wisely!” – Wonder Woman
New beginnings are always exciting events which come with much anticipation. As we entered a new school year this past week, we embraced all that a new year brings. With new friends alongside familiar ones, new grade, new teachers, and new classrooms to make familiar, students and teachers alike came together to design their classrooms and make them come to life. Our goal this year is to write OUR story…an epic journey that evolves as we do. As new pages unfold we plan to fill them with moments that entice our students to find themselves in the work. We know that being original is something our students crave – they share their thoughts and ideas and look for new ideas from their peers. As teachers, we work to find ways to foster this curiosity and connect to our big ideas, looking for the sparks of excitement as they connect and intersect. We feel the weight of our responsibility to our students constantly as we see them grow their understandings. There is power in education – not just from the answers we may find to our questions but in the questions that remain unanswered – the ones that percolate in the back of our minds and make us see connections wherever we go. As the quote above says we need our young scribes to be adventurous, creative and original – we know that we can inspire them to use their youth to push the future forward… our journey has just begun and we cannot wait to see the where it leads us! Talk about joyful literacy – writing in real time…here we go! |
AuthorI am a Calgary Board of Education Principal, proud to be leading learning. I am driven by curiosity and believe that each day welcomes new learning. I am passionate about intellectual engagement and task design and I treasure "wonder-filled" moments with students. Archives
July 2018
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