Eckville Elementary recently received a thank you letter for their contribution of $2,191.45 to the Terry Fox Foundation.
“Every year we see how educators are using Terry’s example to inspire students to tackle all challenges with Terry’s perseverance and determination, whether that means finishing that particularly difficult homework assignment or making it through the school year while dealing with a personal tragedy,” Amy Boika of the Terry Fox foundation said in a letter.
Principal Ian McLaren was pleased with the schools contributions to the cause.
“It was great and it was something this school does very,” he said. “We do fundraisers for Terry Fox, Jump Rope for Heart, Santa’s Anonymous, the Food Bank. I don’t want to over burden families and the community but at the same time, they want to do it.”
For McLaren, supporting these charities is something that is intrinsically valuable to education.
“It’s good for the groups we are supporting and it is good for the kids too,” he said. “They start to think outside of themselves. In some cases, they realize how fortunate they may be and how fortunate we are as a community that allows us to reach out and help other people.”
He added “what we do academically around here is important but building the person is important as well.”
McLaren used one recent example to show how much Eckville Elementary students are committed to helping others.
“We are looking to build a playground, which the parents are involved with, but we also had a whole group of students that put together a presentation because they thought it was important for our school and our community. These were Grade 6 students meaning they wouldn’t be able to play on the playground while they are students here . They are able to think altruistically enough to see that a new playground would benefit the kids coming up.”
He added that the Terry Fox run is part of the schools history.
“We have banners in our gym that shows we have been doing it for 15 years, which is important for the kids to see the history,” he said. “Everyone in this school has been touched by cancer in some way so it is important to stay involved with this.”
reporter@eckvilleecho.com