Ordinary Heroes, organized by the Holy Spirit Mental Health Capacity Building (MHCB) team and Family First Facilitators (FFF) team, is designed to increase youth resiliency and engage adults in building protective factors that foster this resilience. As part of the program, students were tasked with choosing one "Ordinary Hero" in their life and writing a letter to express why that person is their hero. The chosen heroes included parents, siblings, grandparents, teachers, educational assistants, and mentors from the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.
Sixteen students were randomly selected to present their letters and honour their Ordinary Heroes at St. Martha's Parish yesterday evening, with families and loved ones in attendance.
For both the students and their heroes, it was a touching night to show how much they mean to one another.
"I chose Madame Sawyer because I've known her since Grade 1, and she's helped us through a lot," said Brixlyn Henderson, who chose Mdm. Danielle Sawyer, an educational assistant at École St. Mary School. "I really wanted to choose her because I am moving on to junior high after this year and wanted her to know that we all loved having her."
"It always makes me tear up and feel really special," said Mdm. Sawyer. "I've been an EA for 25 years, and sometimes you think what you do doesn’t really touch the kids. But when you get something like this, it proves that what you do every day truly matters and that you are noticed."
For the MHCB team, this evening holds a special place in their hearts.
"This is my favorite event by far," said Trish Mangone, the Mental Health Capacity Building Manager. "We work really hard with all the students, and I think we need to do more of these things. We need to focus on the ordinary heroes in everyone’s life because people don’t realize the impact they make in these students’ lives. It’s just such an impactful night for everyone."
Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate the students, their heroes, and this meaningful event.
