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| A grade 7 student presenting a gift to one of the school’s volunteers |
Parent volunteers are one of the most important resources a school can have. Both public and private schools depend heavily on their volunteers to keep things running smoothly, but because private schools enjoy less government funding than public schools, they perhaps have a greater appreciation for the assistance that parent volunteers provide.
Parent volunteers have always been an important part of the successful operation of IHMS. Among other things, parent volunteers provide rides to field trips, organize hot lunches (such as hot-dog day), coach some of the school’s sports teams, help out with Bingo, and organize some of the larger school events such as the Annual School Tea, the Annual Fund Raising Dinner, and the Family Picnic.
To celebrate the efforts of these hard working volunteers, IHMS held a “Volunteer Appreciation” program on Thursday, April 23rd from 2:00 – 4:30 pm in the school gym. The theme of the event was “Hands Down, You’re the Best”.
Since volunteering is a requirement for enrolment at IHMS, invitations to the event were sent out to every family in the school. (Note: Parents who choose not to volunteer are responsible for paying a $350.00 “non-volunteer fee” at the beginning of the school year).
The program began at 2:00 pm with a greeting and a thank you to the volunteers by Mr. Picklyk, followed by an opening prayer by Mr. Banias.
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| Mr. Picklyk thanked the parents for their volunteer work |
Thank you messages were also conveyed on behalf of the students by Josh T. (the student council president), and on behalf of the staff by Sr. Anne Pidskalny, the school’s director and Sadochok and Kindergarten teacher.
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| Josh T. and Sr. Anne Pidskalny both thanked the volunteers for their service |
Students also played a direct role in the Volunteer Appreciation Program. Every year, either the odd or the even numbered grades are responsible for putting together a short presentation to thank the parent volunteers for their efforts. Since this was a year for odd numbered grades, the grade 1, 3, 5, and 7 classes either sang a song or recited a poem, or found some other way of saying “thank you” to the parent volunteers.
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| A short presentation was performed by students in grades 1, 3, 5, and 7 |
In addition to Volunteer Appreciation Day, it was also Mrs. Karah Hanna’s last day of work at IHMS. Mrs. Hanna (formerly known as Mrs. Crooks before her marriage last summer) began working as a teacher’s aide in the Sadochok class in 2010. Unfortunately, Karah and her husband are moving out of province, so in recognition of her exemplary performance over the past few years, Sr. Anne presented her with a bouquet of flowers.
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| Sr. Anne presented Mrs. Hanna with a bouquet of flowers |
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Near the end of the program, two students from each class presented a small gift to all the volunteers. The gifts are different every year, and this year’s gift was a small bottle of hand sanitizer. |
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| Students presented a small gift to each of the volunteers |
After the presentation of the gifts, everyone sang “Mnohiya Lita” before the students were dismissed back to their classes.
The volunteers remained behind to socialize with each other at a reception in the gym, hopefully feeling acknowledged and appreciated.
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| The volunteers socialized while enjoying a few snacks |
