I loved the first day of school - new dress - new shoes - fresh pack of pencil crayons - sharpened - walking the familiar route with my best friend - excited - routine - crisp autumn air - I can picture my childhood. I loved walking into the classroom and finding my desk - the neat pile of books stacked there - math book - science book - speller - readers - history - geography - french - different coloured notebooks ready to be named - singing O Canada - reciting the Lord’s Prayer at the start of the day - meeting the new kids - I remember these things as if it were yesterday.

How have 62 years passed since my first day of kindergarten?

This is my prayer for BACK TO SCHOOL - 2025! (Borrowed from Her View From Home.)

Please let this year be gentle with our children. Fill them with confidence. Surround them with joy. Protect them in every hallway and classroom.

Make their minds curious and keep their hearts soft. Let them know they belong, exactly as they are. May they feel how deeply and truly - how loved they are.

Send them teachers who notice small wins and appreciate unseen effort. Provide them with friends who stay close on the good days and even closer on the hard ones.

Shower them with laughter and joy and all the fun of growing up.

Place in their hearts dreams big enough to chase - and faith real enough to believe they can.

And when the final bell rings, bring them safely home to the arms that love them most!

To my grandchild’s teacher (author unknown) -

As we start this new school year - I just want to say thank you in advance.

Thank you for choosing a job that is so much more than a job. Thank you for showing up for the kids who aren’t yours, and loving them like they are.

Thank you for being patient on the days when learning feels hard - for giving grace when they forget their homework - for understanding that some kids walk into your classroom carrying more than a backpack. Some carry worry. Some carry heartbreak. Some carry things too heavy for their little shoulders - yet they still show up.

Thank you for noticing - for looking beyond the test scores - the behaviour charts - the checkboxes - and seeing the actual child.

This year, you’ll be so much more than a teacher. You’ll be a safe place when life feels scary. You’ll be the voice that tells them they’re safe. You will shape how they see themselves, even when you don’t realize it yourself. Years from now, when they’re grown, they’ll still remember how you made them feel because that’s what teachers do. You leave fingerprints on hearts, not just papers.

So before the chaos begins, please know this - what you do matters more than you’ll ever see in a paycheque - it matters more than the test scores or standards - it matters in the eyes that light up when you call them by name - it matters in the confidence they carry because someone believed in them.

Here’s to a school year filled with grace, growth and kids who feel seen, heard, and deeply loved because of you.

Thank you. From a very grateful Grammie.

I loved school. I attended West Front Public school for Kindergarten - Grade two - Gladstone Public School for the last part of Grade two through Grade six - Central Public for Grades seven and eight and St. Lawrence High School for Grades 9 -13. My favourite subjects were gym - literature - music - history and geography. I struggled through physics and math but with a lot of help from teachers and friends made it through. I sang in choirs - played on sports teams - participated in musicals and plays - dissected a frog (yucky) in science class and was student council president in Grade 13. I went to OFSSA for badminton three years in a row. I remember my teachers being encouraging and kind. It was good. It was better than good.

Beginning next Tuesday morning - at 8:15 - I promise I’ll be praying for the principals - the teachers and my grandchildren - as they head out the door. It’s a promise. I’ll set my phone alarm and I won’t let them down. I’ll do my part and I pray that each of them will do their part.

And to my grandchildren - three heading into high school - two heading into middle school - and five heading to elementary school - Harv has three heading to high school and two going to primary school. I pray you’ll remember these things and put them into practice -

In a compromised culture - stand for the truth
In a cancelled culture - fight for your friends
In a self-centred culture - walk humbly
In a wavering world - trust God to give you unshakeable confidence
In a faithless culture - be trustworthy - dependable - committed - steadfast

It’s going to be a great year!