Reflections of Havergal: 1994-2019

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Strengthening Our Partnerships BTI , September 2008 Salra John, Derrydown Club Leader

Celebration Saturday means something different to Havergal every year. It is Havergal’s own charm bracelet: every successful Celebration Saturday adds a unique charm to its links, evolving into the wholesome chain it has become. Included in some of the charms are the ever-so-popular cookiegrams, Junior School Midway, and the Silent Auction, to name a few. The links in the chain that make up the bracelet are the Havergal community, the partnerships we have forged and our shared humanity. So, what might Celebration Saturday 2008 look like as a charm? If the geometrical shape has not already come to mind, we will clasp on a triangle to represent Havergal’s partnership with the Triangle of Hope Program. In 2002, the Stephen Leacock Foundation coordinated the Triangle of Hope partnership between Havergal College, the Get Ahead Project (GAP) School in Whittlesea, South Africa, and Derrydown Public School, near York University. Our unique triangle partnership’s stated goal is “to link global school communities in mutual respect and responsibility in order to make a difference in the lives of others.” Further, each member of this partnership brings diversity, community and individual goals to the triangle partnership. The GAP School is an independent school that meets the needs of children in the townships surrounding Whittlesea and Queenstown, which have a normal rate of 40% adult unemployment. State-sponsored education in South Africa is unstable, despite the fact that apartheid was abolished 14 years ago. The founding members of the school were black parents who, in 1992, were frustrated with the fact that they could not send their children to English-speaking state schools. At the moment, given its desire to enrich the students’ education

starting at an early age, the GAP school is trying to establish a JK classroom. Our partnership is strong. The link between Havergal and the GAP School was forged when several of our own staff visited the GAP School over the past few summers. There is no doubt that the messages they have brought back revolve around the school’s positive and infectious spirit. Derrydown P.S. has a different relationship to the Triangle partnership, wherein student volunteers from Havergal attend the Saturday Morning Program for Derrydown students in JK to Grade 5. Each Saturday morning consists of workshops and activities such as arts and crafts, martial arts, keyboards, and dance. The volunteers get a chance to interact with the students and to help develop skills with the children on an individual basis while a teacher or student volunteer runs the activity. As well, through this partnership, volunteers form binds that will last a lifetime. Havergal plays an important role in the Triangle of Hope by expressing our values for the global community during Celebration Saturday. This includes sustainability leading up to, and on the day of, the event. Following Celebration Saturday, there will be opportunities to strengthen our partnerships with the GAP School and Derrydown P.S. through whole-school initiatives. So HC, envision what new touches you can add to our Havergal charm bracelet in the spirit of Celebration Saturday, as we celebrate our community partnerships.

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