On Wednesday, our community gathered for our e-ssembly to celebrate the members of the Class of 2021, and to recognize their roles as our most senior leaders. Strong leadership requires many important skills about which our girls learn, practice, and develop over their time at the School; we look to our Grade 12s in their final year as mentors, role models, and community leaders.
While the location and the logistics may have been different last week for this annual event, our Grads’ celebrations and traditions are important. In addition to the girls receiving their gold belts as a symbol of them being in their graduating year, it is also a time in which we ask our leaders to share their commitments to the community.
As a part of our celebration, I first shared the staff’s commitments to our girls which include providing a safe physical and emotional environment in which to learn, expertise and instructional excellence, and listening to our girls while ensuring opportunities for them to have a voice.
As I reflected on the celebration, what was evident is the importance of traditions for our girls of all ages. Despite COVID-19 and the very different circumstances in which we find ourselves, honouring the ‘regular’ traditions is even more important.
And so, while it wasn’t explicitly articulated, an additional commitment to our girls and community is to celebrate and mark these important traditions- to ensure that while things may feel different, there is comfort in much staying the same.
