The other day, I was sitting the front foyer with a staff member as we were trying to calm a student who was in great distress. I’m not sure that my presence was necessary, but I wanted the staff member to know that she had some support, as the child’s distress was significant at times. I also wanted the student to know that there are many adults in the school community who support her. In the midst of this session, our secretary came out to the foyer, to remind me that we had a number of volunteers in the library for our Appreciation Tea and they were waiting for me to give the welcome and to assist with the presentation of the award. I smoothed the wrinkles out of my skirt, adjusted my glasses on the top of head and secretly hoped that I didn’t have anything caught in my teeth, as a quick trip to the washroom was now out of the question. As I made my way towards the library doors, I stopped to remind a senior female student about the dress code and encouraged her to cover her shoulders. Two steps later and I was greeted by a student who needed to “check -in” with me, as he does every day. I entered the library and could see the relief on our secretary’s face, only to be greeted by a primary student who wanted to come into my office at recess and use one of the laptops. A quick “O.K, just make sure it’s an appropriate site” was the answer that he wanted and then I was home-free. I took pleasure in thanking the group of volunteers who make a tremendous difference in our school and then turned it over to another staff member who did a wonderful job of acknowledging our award winning volunteer. I quickly made the rounds, enjoyed a sliver of cake and made my way back to the office to see if indeed “an appropriate site” had been chosen ~ It had!

At the end of the day, I was meeting with the staff member whom I had joined in the front foyer earlier that day and she commented on the “glimpse” into my world that she had been a part of.

It’s days like those that I love the most.