Fred A. Hamilton Public School
Book of Gratitude
Donna Dodge
January 21, 2009
My name is Donna Dodge & I am a parent from Fred A. Hamilton Public
School. I am honoured to have been asked by our school council to speak to you
tonight.
Up until the last few months, many people in society seemed to me to be
walking around with an air of self-entitlement, which I personally found
distressing. With the present economic situation causing more & more job losses
every day, many people have realized that perhaps they should be more
appreciative of what they do have.
At Fred A. Hamilton being grateful for what we have has never been an
issue. From it’s opening day until now & hopefully well into the future, this school
has been valued & appreciated by all who have come in contact with it.
Spear-headed & complied by our school council treasurer Lauren Meegan,
we are proud to present the Fred A. Hamilton Public School - Book of Gratitude.
First & foremost, parents & children alike are grateful for the education they
have received at F.A. Hamilton. One parent says that the school is just big enough
to give as much support as needed to our ESL kids. Another parent says that F.A.
Hamilton has done a good job of incorporating the gifted program into its school
community. This school has such a good base for success & we are big on
commitment, dedication & participation. Parents appreciate the half day
kindergarten program. Many are grateful for the size of our school one parent
remarking that a small school community contributes to her daughter’s confidence.
One student said that the children are thankful for the computer lab.
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Gratitude for our principal, teachers & support staff, both past & present at
F.A. Hamilton was most evident. I love my teachers was a common theme from
kids in JK all the way to Grade 6! Children & parents alike remarked on how nice
it was that the principal & teachers knew each child by name making our school
feel like one big family. Parents of special needs children appreciate the spirit &
understanding found in this school & the open door policy inspires many parents to
happily volunteer their time at the school. Over the years many dedicated parents
& staff have served on the school council helping to make F.A. Hamilton what it is
today.
Friendships formed at our school are truly valued by parents & children
alike. A small school means that parents, neighbours, teachers & the principal all
know one another & this helps us all to stay connected. If a family needs some
extra support -for example looking after their kids due to an illness or other
emergencies, or driving your child to school for you on these bitterly cold days, or
if they just need some one to talk to that is where our school family shines! After
all we all live in the neighbourhood!!
Many families who have come to Canada from other countries have credited
F. A. Hamilton with both welcoming & helping them & their children settle in
quickly. One parent was grateful for the way everyone is so accepting of all
different kinds of families. Many of the children said that they appreciated the fact
that they were accepted & not bullied at school.
We all know that not every child is lucky enough to have what they need at
home. For those kids F.A. Hamilton is a safe place to fall where staff, children &
parents alike take them under their wing. Our breakfast program is another
important service offered by our school. We all are truly grateful for the dedicated
people that make this happen.
No child can have too many people care about them, & the F. A. Hamilton
family makes a difference in the life of a child every day!!
There is a lot of praise for the extra activities offered at the school from both
the kids & the parents. The kids enjoy the hot lunches, the great sports teams,
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reading night, the barbecue, the wonderful skating rink & the green space to play.
They love that we are an earth friendly school & one girl appreciates the fact that
“our school has lots of trees so when it gets hot we can stand under the trees!!”
One little one “loves the pink bricks on our school “& one simply says “it’s special
to me because it’s my school!” One child says:” it’s cool that teachers there give
their trust in kids to help people cross streets like patrollers” & speaking as a parent
we are grateful too!
One of the activities everyone is most proud of is the skipping team. We are
the only school to have one & the children love going around to the other schools
giving demonstrations & are very proud that in so doing they are raising money for
the Heart & Stroke Association.
Parents appreciate our lending library for parents. One parent says that Fred
A. Hamilton is their life during the week-running the milk program, serving on the
school council, & participating in the walking school bus program. Parents are also
thankful for the attached daycare which offers the children safety, security &
stability. After school programs are enjoyed by all as are the Action Read program
& all of the social activities for the parents & students. All of these things put
together make our school one to be truly grateful for!
Community involvement with our school is amazing. Several people said
that they moved to this neighbourhood because of what they had heard about our
school, because it was a neighbourhood school that their children could walk to &
because of the size of our school. Our school is the heart of the community. It
encourages young families to move into our area & we all benefit from that.
“I get to walk my dog & I get to bike to school,” “We walk to school as a
family & it is an important part of the day”, “The children don’t have to commute
to school,” & an awareness of global warming were advantages mentioned in being
a walking school.
Our families participate in the neighbourhood community group & many
enjoy both Winterfest & the ice cream get- togethers in the summer. Attending F.
A. Hamilton allows the children to experience & appreciate the diversity of the
neighbourhood in which they live & to develop their social conscience.
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The District Community Coordinator & the Early Start Family Literacy
Program facilitators are grateful for our parent volunteers, for our principal
Heather Broddy & for the use of our school space. “It definitely is a school where
parents & community members are willing to help out in order to make the school
strong” said one parent.
As I am sure that you can tell by now, school spirit is very evident! One
child said “It is a place where we are respected,” another said “I feel really happy
when I am there” & several remarked on how safe they feel at school. “Our
children are given an opportunity to play, laugh & learn.” “My son feels like he is
at home at school” said one parent & what more could any parent ask for?
My husband & I have five children & since our first child started
kindergarten in 1979, we have been very pleased with the various schools that they
have attended.
When we moved into this neighbourhood 22 yrs. ago, our sons were bussed
to John McCrae as we all waited for our neighbourhood school to be built. A few
years later when F.A. Hamilton opened we were all so excited! It proved to be well
worth the wait.
After a few years absence from the school we found ourselves back with our
next child & it was like coming home. And it was at this point that F. A. Hamilton
became truly dear to our hearts. Our medically fragile son began kindergarten. One
day the principal at the time, Terry Sullivan, called & said that he had contacted
Bill Granger at the Guelph Wish Fund for Children & asked them to consider
sending William & us to Disney World. What a gift. A fax from his class was
waiting for us when we got to the hotel & our son’s comment before going to sleep
that night was “This is the life!” We were & are to this day overwhelmed &
grateful.
After his 6th surgery it became clear that home instruction was the only way
our son would get his education. Because of the support & advocacy of principals
Terry Sullivan & Liz Schroeder at F.A. Hamilton, our son is now working on his
third Grade 9 course. There is no way we can ever thank the school enough for the
support they gave our son.
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After yet another absence we were back with our last child & nothing has
changed. The extra help she is getting in order to experience success is amazing &
once again we are touched by a caring principal, Heather Broddy, a great teacher &
a wonderfully creative resource teacher. Our story is just one of many I am sure.
In conclusion I would like to share with you a letter written by a former
F. A. Hamilton student, Kyle Edward.
“Fred A. Hamilton Public school is important to me because it lets me
remember friends who have moved houses, changed schools, grown apart & even
who are no longer with us. Bryan Prentice died in 2005 and this school is a way to
remember many of the amazing & special times I had with a long lost friend. To
me he almost doesn’t seem gone because only a single thing-but still strong,
standing alone at heart-connects us and that is Fred A. Hamilton School.”
As you can see, F. A. Hamilton is not just a building, it is a family that cares
about each other both during & after school hours.
F. A. Hamilton - Focus & Heart.
On behalf of all of the parents, students, alumni, & community members
associated with F.A. Hamilton thank you ARC Committee for all of your hours of
hard work & dedication. It is not an easy job & we are truly grateful.
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We appreciated the tech lab and workshop.
We appreciated the specialized workshops
and speakers brought in to present talks
that were entirely relevant to the grade 7
and 8 children. We appreciated that each
grade cohort was large enough to offer
specialized programming and
extracurriculars, but the whole school was
still small enough for the teachers and
principals to know the students as
individuals. I think that the rotating classes
and having a locker was a good step in
preparing them for High School. They
learned to take responsibility for their locker
and for getting to class in a lower pressure
environment than a very large High School.
Survey 01.02
The Math Lab
•
Students in grades 7 and 8 MUST have a
properly equipped science and math labs,
an adequate music program, opportunity for
a variety of clubs and teams, a properly
equipped phys-ed program.
The cost of not doing this is too great... too
many students ill-prepared for the rigors of
high school, too many who have an
unsuccessful transition to grade 9, too many
who will eventually become 'at-risk'
students.
Survey 01.09
The Fine Art Studio
•
•
The school offered great
opportunities for experience
enrichment and it helped
transition my children smoothly
into the high school
environment. The gym
equipment, library, music room –
these were all essential parts of
their education
Survey 01.13
King George offers a
hugely diversified program
targeted for this one age
group and needing a large
enough population to run.
Survey 01.07
The Music Room and
Instrument storage room
•
My kids loved the
music program. It
allowed them to
experiment with
different
instruments. A nice
step change from the
choir programs many
schools are limited to.
Survey 01.07
Music Room lists of students with instruments on loan
for practice
•
King George built confidence for my
daughter going into high school. It
gave such great exposure to a real
diversity of programs (art, music,
science labs, etc.)
Survey 01.03
•
Music program was
fun for my son and
kept his spirits up.
Survey 01.11
The Library
•
My son was really happy to have a library
dedicated to the interest of early
teenagers. He found a lot of reading
material he was interested in.
Survey 01.07
•
We appreciated
that the library had
lots of books in
French appropriate
to the grade 7 and
8 level.
Survey
01.02
The Science Lab
•
Rotary with specialist
teachers teaching each
subject. The rotary
experience, with several
teachers each giving their
own work is very important
training in time management
and planning. Most especially
important are ensuring that
math and science teachers
have a math and science
background, as teachers in
grade schools often do not
have an academic
background in these
disciplines.
Survey 01.06
The MST Workshop
•
ALL the school facilities that
were not available in the
grade school ( larger, staffed
library, the MST lab, music
room, gym workout room )
are instrumental in preparing
the students successfully for
the challenges,
expectations,
responsibilities, and
workload of high school. The
facilities are integral to
teachers being able to teach
effectively!!!
Survey 01.09
The MST Workshop
•
For my son, MST was incredibly valuable. Having an MST
workshop where he could work with tools, learn about worksafety, build things for himself in a mature and concentrated
setting and learn how to work as part of a team -- it was
amazing! He developed an independence in his school
projects and an understanding of how scientific principles
can be applied and understood. The well-equipped
workshop was one of the really important features of King
George.
Survey 01.04
•
Having a designated
art teacher. Lockers
and rotating classes.
In particular, the
amount of clubs and
sports teams made
school more
interesting for my
child.
Survey 01.14
The high school style
rotation of classes
[provided] great
preparation for my
children. Students get
the best of both worlds
by staying with students
they know throughout
the rotation but get
used to moving rooms;
access to so many
clubs and
extracurricular
activities; access to
very exciting field trips;
teachers who are used
to this age group;
everything is focused
on this age group so
the challenges and
opportunities can be
handled most
appropriately.
Survey 01.16