Blog Posts

Saying Goodbye

So…this is it. My last year. My last month. I am trying to walk gracefully into the sunset…and retire. As we look at the weirdest wind-up of school, I am trying to get a feel for anything familiar in my long, historic life so far…nope. This is definitely new.  Absolutely, the “once-in-a-hundred-years” kind of thing. When Covid officially started over two years ago, I was 12 hours away from my annual Oregon surf trip.  All I can say is that I am ending my career with a similar water theme—but not the one I expected! 

Last November, in honouring our soldiers and veterans during Remembrance Day each year,  Mrs. Tryon's class, on behalf of our school, designed a thank you card for our Canadian Troops. These were the troops who helped out in the flooding and Heat Domes that affected many communities in BC and across Canada in 2021.  Unfortunately, on November 15, our beloved school was evacuated as the waters rose in the Sumas Prairie Flood of 2021, and our thank you card was left behind.

March is an exciting month for us, because it means WE finally get to go home to our Whatcom & Vye Campus! If you have driven by the school, you know that our district workers have been working extremely hard to get our school ready for our return after Spring Break. Please let me share what can be expected in the days to come following Spring Break.

Watching the Olympics is always one of my favourite highlights.  Not just the winning, but the efforts and sacrifice of athletes to pursue a dream that only comes around once every four years, and putting it all on the line for as little as two minutes.  I watched every Canadian athlete who earned a medal, and the joy of doing it together.

Why We Remember 

There are months I remember more than others. November is one of my REMEMBER months.  Not because it's sunny or I love to pick up leaves in my yard all month (I’m at 40 bags and counting); November is memorable because of the things I have got to do that make Remembrance Day meaningful for me, as well as my family. 

Building Community
Almost eighteen months have passed since we adjusted school learning under a Covid-19 world. Despite all the lows, we worked together to manage and minimize risk for students and staff in schools, and allow for the best learning to happen in our schools.  Now that we have several legitimate vaccines available in Canada, and a child vaccine, seemingly around the corner, to vaccinate 5-12 year olds, we can finally start to talk about the power of face to face interactions in developing school community.

Two weeks (actually three and a half for me) into a new school year, and I am finally beginning to see daylight.  The schedules are mostly set, the (school) train has left the station, and we are troubleshooting as we move down the tracks of learning.  So, while I catch my breath, let me share a little about myself in the context of the world we are now living in. 

The new school year begins!  We have a lot of things that are different—naturally because of the World Pandemic—but we are finally in a stage where we are starting to get a little closer to what is normal (and FUN!) about school. 

I have struggled this past week to process my thoughts and emotions regarding the horrific truths coming out of the Kamloops Residential School. This appalling tragedy is a difficult reminder for survivors of residential schools and their families, and a reminder of the hurt and intergenerational trauma they have endured. This hurt and trauma affects families within our own school community.

Last month it was announced that there will be a change in principalship at Upper Sumas Elementary for the upcoming 2021-2022 school year.