"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another."
- Charles Dickens
"I cannot do all the good that the world needs. But the world needs all the good that I can do."
- Jana Stanfield
December has arrived, paying no attention to rising COVID-19 infection numbers or the warm weather we have been enjoying the past few days.
As we contemplate moving into what is traditionally a month of joyously excessive festivities and fun, the 2020 holiday season is absolutely bringing an uncertainty and constraints that will change so many of the typical activities we all enjoy every holiday season.
It comes at the end of a most trying and disproportionately challenging year for pretty much every corner of the world and will, I am sure, present a whole new set of challenges for virtually every member of our school community as we adjust family celebration plans to acknowledge new restrictions, move our gatherings outside and try to tweak traditions enough to be familiar yet safe.
We have been reflecting on December as well, at EHS.
Having safely navigated the first three months of the 2020-21 school year, there is no question it is more imperative than ever that we strictly adhere to the many layers of precautions we have implemented and follow every day at school regardless of the time of year - this school year appears to be merciless in requiring all of us to be increasingly attentive to every precautionary strategy possible as our only defence against an immensely erratic virus. The greatest non-negotiable for December 2020 is that there will be no easing of safety precautions, especially in elementary schools that remain open while all schools province-wide have moved to online learning until January 2021 for students in grades 7 - 12.
That does not, however, mean that December cannot still bring joy - and that is what we have, as a staff, determined will define December 2020 for our school. We will not remember this Christmas for the virus (well, not completely anyway!) but rather for the joy we are hoping to bring to our school, our community and the hearts of everyone we are able to touch.
Welcome to the "Light Up Our Hearts December of Joy" at EHS for December 2020! Our ultimate wish for this month is to bring joy to as many aspects of our school and community as possible - and oh! do we have ambitious plans :)
Our first initiative is, of course, our 'Families Helping Families' initiative - a peaceful communities project we began our first holiday season five years ago. Each year our families donate so generously to help other families (this year, as in past years, from Col. J. Fred Scott School) whose needs are so much greater than most of us (thankfully) are able to imagine. Usually children are encouraged to contribute to purchasing appropriate gifts for their classroom's family, but the the tentacles of the pandemic managed to change this as well, and we are so grateful for our families donating over $2800.00 towards the purchase of gift cards to support 14 families - a most generous gift of joy marking a remarkable fifth year of this peace project at EHS!
We are adding a new joy project this year to share some warmth and festive spirit! We want all our Seniors - our grandparents, great-grandparents and the carriers of wisdom in our world - to know how much we value and appreciate the gifts they bring to us, including helping to ensure our planet is such an amazing place to live :). So we have partnered with The Manor Village at Varsity and will be making and delivering holiday wreaths to cheer the Seniors' shared residential areas and the medical spaces during this time when isolation will be the expectation. Each classroom will be decorating two wreaths in the coming days, to be delivered to the Manor on December 11/20. Children are also making cards for each of the 166 residents at the Manor. We are planning to also share parts of our holiday musical celebration with our Senior Friends, and hope to keep our connection with the Manor Village at Varsity long past December of 2020. We are excited to develop these new friendships and connections which will bring us all greater joy!
Mrs. Coulson, our most remarkable Music teacher, is leading an exceptional internal project to bring joy to the school through December. This will include events such as crazy sweater day, crazy hat day and a pyjama day as well as a musical celebration "December Around the World" we will be sharing with classes and parents in video form. We will literally "light up our hearts" with all the donations of holiday lights parents have brought to the school over the past couple of weeks - thank you for your generosity! Classroom opportunities to decorate both our learning spaces and our bigger gathering spaces will offer our students creative outlets with a festive spirit and energy! We are looking forward to continuing to bring light and joy to our school through the next three weeks :)
While we are continuing our learning journeys through these unusual circumstances we know even these events intended to bring light and joy to our school will only slightly diminish the focus on all the constraints and dubious news that impact our daily pandemic-dominated lives. Our hope is not to divert attention from living safely during this time, but rather to find positive ways to weave opportunities for also remembering that celebration, fellowship and caring for each other are fundamental to human existence and improve the quality of all our lives. While we cannot engage in our usual boisterous, exhilarating gatherings we are still capable, willing and eager to know we share our gifts of creativity, generosity, kindness and laughter with each other in the school, in our community and around the world.
Challenging times mean investing a little extra energy into bringing joy back into the school is a most worthwhile endeavour - and be prepared for an outstandingly enthusiastic celebration of December festivities in 2021 because we are already making post-pandemic plans :)
Hope you all enjoy this festive month in as many ways as possible!
Lorraine Kinsman, Principal
Eric Harvie School
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