Stories: the grain of sand in the oyster...

"We need stories of hope perhaps more than we need new ideas on curriculum, formative assessment or instructional strategies. Stories of hope can nurture our spirits."

Elena Aguilar

Everything starts and ends with a story...our lives, the world, even our schools...

Opening a school named after a well-known person offers great opportunities for students to explore and investigate the stories and legacy of that school’s namesake - even as we begin to write our own stories of school.  

In our case, Eric Harvie was a very well known Calgary philanthropist who left an immensely strong legacy of citizenship and advocacy for care of people, animals and the land. As we work to clarify our vision for our new school, we know we have many stories to understand and tell as we begin – stories of the land, of Eric Harvie himself, of our school and the impact we hope to have on our community and the world, as well as the stories of who our students are becoming as they grow and influence their families, community and city. 

As we take up the work of exploring and unfolding many stories this first school year, we see the legacies of Eric Harvie as one of the 'grains of sand in the oyster' that will eventually yield the 'pearl' - the identify of our new school.  This is a metaphor we've been using in many ways as we've been building a vision and sense of identity for our new school - and it is a most effective way to begin exploring the legacy that informs our name as well as how we will enter the community, the CBE and the city of Calgary.

'Legacy' is one of the lenses through which we are telling, exploring, building and sharing our stories with students this school year - along with place-based and peace education. As a new school community, these wrap around the world we are entering (Eric Harvie - our namesake, the community of Tuscany with it's rich geological and aboriginal history, and the world goal we all hope to share) and offer us a way to texturize storytelling with our children.

In the coming weeks, all students from Eric Harvie School will begin to enter into the legacies of Eric Harvie, the man. We will begin by visiting the Glenbow Ranch just east of Cochrane on Highway 1A, donated by the Eric Harvie Foundation to the province of Alberta. As we engage with various investigations and explorations we will come to understand the man whose name we carry - his motivations, the places that shaped and framed his thinking and the scope of impact his philanthropy carried in our province, city and communities. More importantly, we will begin to see that all we are, all we do, all we share and how we interact with each other, the land and the world carries enormous impact well past today's experiences - that every step we take, every word we speak, every action we undertake - leaves a trail of legacy we cannot know.

This is the kernel - the grain of sand - in any great story - the possibility of impact. As we begin to shape our school story, we can 'see' the long history behind us that helps us envision the long future ahead as well. And as we write the stories - with words, images, acts of kindness, music, innovative thinking - we will  not lose sight of the threads of characters and events that brought us to this hopeful moment in time - the opportunity to thoughtfully imagine a new school for nurturing hope and joy in learning.

That is indeed a tremendous legacy - and a story of hope to nurture all our spirits!

Lorraine Kinsman, Principal

Eric Harvie School