| This first week of May marks some important events in
the education world. This week schools across Alberta recognize Education Week and
organizations across Canada recognize Mental Health Week. I have to admit that
I feel a bit sheepish about forgetting about both of these important events and
not including them in the sidebar calendar of this newsletter! It is tough to
keep track of all of the special days or events when life gets busy. This week
was rather pivotal for our school in that we presented our RAM (Resource Allocation Method)
or school budget. If you can recall, we asked all families to share plans for
continuing at Eugene Coste next year as
our budget is dependant on student numbers. Last week we hosted a successful in-person Kindergarten/Grade 1 Open House. New families and those considering
registration were excited to finally enter our building, meet staff and check
out spaces in person. So yes, with all of these important school-based events
happening, we overlooked celebrating two very worthy campaigns. In all fairness, this serves as a reminder to
be gentle and patient with ourselves. It’s ok to make mistakes or to overlook
things sometimes. For us at Eugene Coste, we focus on education and mental
health every day. Lifting up these priorities through public awareness campaigns
is very important and necessary. This serves to highlight the work we do with
your children every day. Strong public education builds strong communities! Strong communities can develop and protect the
resources to provide supports for mental health. It is all connected! I really do love the Canadian Mental Health
Association’s focus
on empathy this year. When we work
with our students to problem solve the conflict, empathy is at the core of our
conversations. Of course, we must approach each discussion by taking into account
the age and developmental stage of the children involved. Many students do require adult coaching to
understand how to take another person’s perspective. We often refer to that as
“thinking about someone else’s feelings”. Empathy is a skill we can all
practice by considering others’ perspectives and thinking about our own
beliefs/feelings before jumping to conclusions. Sometimes we can diffuse a potential conflict
situation between students very quickly by simply teaching children to take a
moment to check in on the other person. An accidental bump is often
misinterpreted as being done “on purpose”. When we coach students to notice
others by saying “Whoops! I’m sorry, are you ok?” many problems are solved
peacefully. A quick check-in is sometimes all that is needed and demonstrates
awareness of others and how they are feeling! We do hope you can reflect on
these ideas at home with your children and reinforce the importance of
approaching others with empathy.
Sincerely,
Sra. Andrea Riquelme - Principal Sra. Jackie Michaud - Assistant Principal
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