Principal’s Message November 2024

After another wonderful CGS experience of acknowledging the importance of Remembrance Day, I am left revisiting the ideas expressed in a commercial campaign that ran several years ago, where Canadians were encouraged to “Make every day Remembrance Day”.  The message was a good one and one that I think we could all be reminded of. The idea behind “making every day Remembrance Day” is certainly not a message that we need to wear poppies, observe two minutes of silence, recite In Flanders Fields, or place wreaths at cenotaphs all year long, but rather we are being encouraged to keep the Remembrance Day spirit in our daily lives.

With gratitude for our rights and freedoms, and in honour of those who fought and continue to fight for our country and its ideals, our goal should be to try to keep peace in our daily lives. “One minute of patience, ten years of peace” is the quote chosen for this month’s character trait of patience. Such an important reminder in a world where patience and peace both seem to be on a spiralling decline.

One of the best ways to live a peaceful life is to promote kindness, acceptance and tolerance for all those around us. As parents and educators, we need to be mindful of how important it is for children to learn these attitudes from an early age. If we really want to make the world a more understanding, and thus peaceful place, we need to start with children. The young are so impressionable as they form their perceptions of the world and their place within it. Good influences and positive role models are critical in the early years.

We have an important job when it comes to preparing our children to live, learn and work in communities that are becoming more and more diverse. But how do we do this? First, we must start with ourselves. What kind of global citizen are we demonstrating ourselves to be? Our children are watching! As important as it is to demonstrate empathy and compassion as our young ones looks on, we also need to watch what we say. We must be careful with our words and opinions about others, because our children are ALWAYS listening. Differences should always be spoken about in a respectful way. Adults who model tolerance and patience in their everyday lives send a powerful message to their children.

We should also spend time cultivating confidence in our children, because someone with confidence is more likely to embrace difference and readily see the value in others.

Honouring our own traditions, as well as spending time learning about the traditions of others, is also an important way of opening our children up to a life of acceptance and inclusion. This is why our Diversity Studies program is such an important component of our CGS curriculum.

We live in a world of difference. Teaching tolerance, or an attitude of openness and respect, when it comes to ethnic, religious, gender, physical or learning differences, will give our children more opportunities for success as they navigate the larger world around them. Throughout the year, let us all try to make every day Remembrance Day, by promoting peace throughout our world, one attitude, one perception and one human being at a time.