安德鲁·西伯尔德学校最近举办了第17届年度活动，以支持阿尔伯塔省儿童癌症护理基金会。过去，我们在体育馆举办了庞大的聚会，有学生、教职员工、家人、表演者和电台名人。这一直是一次相当大规模、喧闹而令人振奋的活动——众人高唱歌曲，孩子们欢呼，许多自豪的眼泪流淌。这总是一件了不起的事情——但今年必须不同。现实是我们无法团聚，事实上，我们不得不在这次活动开始后的几天内迅速转向在线教学。

这会阻止我们的学生吗？决不可能！在这座建筑物里，发生着一些非常特别的事情，一种关爱的精神迎接挑战，并找到创造性方式克服困难。学生、教职员工和社会之间存在着深厚的联系，对他人关怀的渴望极为强烈。今年我们活动的回应真正激励了我们，并提醒了我们关心他人的力量和重要性。

一次又一次，在需要的时候，我们的社区挺身而出，并以无法压制的方式回应了。我们共有129名幼儿园至六年级的学生，通过涂色、剪切或剃头来勇敢地为患儿癌症斗争筹集资金。我们从900多个个人获得捐款支持，并打破了以往的筹款记录，我们的学生自豪地筹集了超过5万美元。我们的旅程一直关注如何通过课堂对话展示关怀的重要性，以及即使一种小小的善举也可以对他人产生巨大的影响。

当我们被允许重新聚集在一起时，学生们回到了气球、彩带和非常自豪的老师们！参与者在在线集会上得到了认可和庆祝，泪水和赞美的欢呼声回响在我们的走廊中。无论你朝哪里看，孩子们都自豪地戴着由儿童癌症护理基金会赠送的鲜红色帽子。那一刻美丽而充满感激和希望，愿它也充满您的心中幸福和希望。

Andrew Sibbald School recently held its 17th annual event in support of The Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta. In the past, we have hosted huge gatherings in our gym with students, staff, families, performers, and radio personalities. It has always been a considerably large, loud and exhilarating event - songs being sung, children cheering, and many proud tears being shed. It has always been something amazing - but this year it had to be different. The reality was there would be no coming together and in fact, we had to transition quickly to online teaching and learning just days after kicking off this year’s event.  

Did this stop our students – not a chance! There is something incredibly special that happens here in this building – a caring spirit that welcomes a challenge and finds creative ways to overcome difficulties. There is a deep connection between students, staff and community and a profound desire to care for others. The response to our event this year truly inspired us and has been a reminder of the power and importance of caring for others.  

Once again, in a time of need, our community stepped up and responded in an irrepressible way. We had a total of 129 students, from Kindergarten to Grade 6, demonstrate their bravery by coloring, cutting or shaving their lid to raise money for kids fighting childhood cancer. Gathering donation support from over 900 individuals and smashing any previous fundraising success, our students proudly raised over $50,000. Our journey has always been about highlighting the importance of helping others with classroom conversations about ways to show care, as well as the idea that even one small act of kindness can make a really big difference for someone else.

When we were allowed to join back together in person, students returned to balloons, streamers, and very proud teachers! Participants were recognized and celebrated with an online assembly as tears of joy and cheers of praise, resonated throughout our hallways. Everywhere you looked, children were proudly wearing their bright red ball caps gifted to them as a thank you from The Kids Cancer Care Foundation. It was a beautiful moment that filled our hearts with gratitude and hope. May it also fill your heart with happiness and hope as well.