A Sense of Community

 

“Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community.” Anthony J. D’Angelo

May was an incredible month at Wilfrid Jury. As we celebrated many milestones and achievements I was constantly reminded what a wonderful, caring school community we have.

 We started the month with Education Week, which included a visit from the NASCAR racing team and a community BBQ and our 20th Anniversary Open House. As a part of our Open House celebration, we were entertained by the reflections from our former administrators. Each one commented on the strength of the Jury community. It was certainly a proud moment for Don Jury, a relative of Dr. Wilfrid  Jury, as he listened to all of our stories.

Our next event was our Primary Literacy Day where our Intermediate students worked extremely hard to support our primary students in a variety of literacy activities. It was such a wonderful sense of community to see so many students and staff work together to support our school goal.

As we continued through the month, the junior and intermediate students took part in their Track and Field events and encouraged each other from event to event. Some of our  students went on to the Regional meet and many of our students represented us well at the Special Olympics.

Our sense of community reaches well beyond the doors at 950 Lawson road. This month, the Limberlost Chaplaincy celebrated their 30th Anniversary. It was an honour to be one of their guests and listen to how their organization has grown and supported our students and their families over the years.

 As we embarked on our project to create a Reading Garden, we were very fortunate to receive funding from various community sources. Without their support, our Garden would continue to be a dream and not a reality. We will continue to rely on the community to maintain the Garden throughout the summer months.

 Our month ended with an inspirational message from Theresa Carriere, the remarkable woman who will attempt to run 100 km in one day on June 10, 2011. Theresa’s message is one about empowering a larger community to support her cause.

Each and every event this past month has added something significant to the lives of our students at Wilfrid Jury and none of them would have been possible without the support of the  greater community. Our school is so much more than paper, pencils and books, it is a caring community that relies on students, staff, parents and other community members in order to create a sense of belonging for all who are fortunate enough to walk through our front doors.