The sky is gray, the air is warm with the promise of a Chinook, that blessed release from the usual cold in February. Thirty students, ranging in age from 12 - 13, have just returned from lunch and are now starting to warm up after being outside for almost an hour. There are expressions of glee when some notice that the television from the library is now at the front of the room. This means a movie or something that does not involve having to listen to the teacher drone on about something or other.
The teacher enters the room and the sounds of shuffling papers, binders being dropped on desks and general student fidgeting come to a grinding halt as she stands in front of her desk with that smile that could stop the world. After four months, the students in Mrs. Good's homeroom class have come to appreciate her smile because she is rarely actually present due to an illness.
"I thought we'd get into the Olympic Spirit by watching some of the news coverage," Mrs. Good says while turning on the TV.
The reporter from an American news channel is on site at the venue where the ski jumping events will be held and talking about how the warm weather could cause some problems for the events. Snow will have to be manufactured or trucked in, Olympic Organizers fear. The students giggle as he mispronounces the names of some of the towns and cities near the Olympic City. One student keeps draws a cartoon of the reporter with a propeller beanie on his head in her binder and snickers softly to herself.
After about 10 minutes, the teacher turns off the TV and her smile fades into a look of grave concern.
"How many people volunteered to run for our school in the School Torch Relay?"
A sea of thirty faces looks blankly back at her. Apparently, no one in this particular class did!
"None. That's how many people volunteered," Mrs. Good continued. "Why is that?"
No one can come up with an answer, of course. Over the next two hours, Mrs. Good delivers one of those lectures that will either bore or inspire; one of those lectures that every teacher will deliver at least once in their career. She talks about all of the great causes that would not exist were it not for volunteers, the amazing people one can become friends with and the valuable experience gained from helping others make a difference in the world, no matter how small the contribution.
The bell rings and the students shuffle out of the room. One remains behind and approaches the teacher nervously. She is a small, shy and spindly girl with short brown hair, large brown eyes and the pale skin that defines most people in the city in the middle of winter. Mrs. Good notes that she had been sitting at her desk transfixed by the speech instead of doodling in her notebook as was her usual habit.
"Um... thanks for that speech, Mrs. Good. Do you still need volunteers for the torch relay?"
"Of course, we do," Mrs. Good replies with a smile. "Are you volunteering?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess so," the girl replies with a shy smile, her cheeks turning red with nervousness as she hands Mrs. Good a folded up piece of paper. "Here's my form."
The following week when she is supposed to be in math class, the young girl is on a school bus, heading downtown to visit one of the Olympic venues. Hundreds of students from other schools are already there, milling around. She gets off the bus and is greeted by the organizers of the school torch relay. What follows is an inspiring 2 hours of speeches given by key people in the Olympic Organizing Committee, the Mayor, the Premier and a few athletes. The girl is caught up in the excitement of the whole affair and for the first time in years feels herself filling with pride and excitement in being a part of something huge.
One week later, the weather is cool, but not too cold and a light flurry of snow falls around the girl and three other students from her school who are all in grade 9. They are all wearing plastic vests with the Sponsor's logo on it and the gym teacher is going over the route of the relay. One student will run with the torch for 500 metres while the other three run with the school's banner behind, then they will switch off. Once all four have run, the torch will be passed to a group of students from the school next door. At this point, the teacher pulls out a camera and takes pictures of all four students, one holding the torch while the others hold the banner, until all four have been photographed holding the torch.
Being the youngest, our girl gets to run first. The excitement that has been building for past half hour is now released as she takes up the 2 pound torch and begins to run. People are standing on either side, cheering, while she runs past. Before she knows it, she has run her 500 metres and it's time to pass the torch to the next person. Two hours later, she is back at school. The day is over and her mother is waiting outside to pick her up. When she gets into the car, she tells her mother about her amazing adventure and how awesome volunteering for stuff is. After that experience, she is usually first in line to volunteer for things that are going on around the school.
Running with the torch has sparked a sense of the power of community service inside this one student and she wonders how many others have been inspired by such experiences?
The teacher enters the room and the sounds of shuffling papers, binders being dropped on desks and general student fidgeting come to a grinding halt as she stands in front of her desk with that smile that could stop the world. After four months, the students in Mrs. Good's homeroom class have come to appreciate her smile because she is rarely actually present due to an illness.
"I thought we'd get into the Olympic Spirit by watching some of the news coverage," Mrs. Good says while turning on the TV.
The reporter from an American news channel is on site at the venue where the ski jumping events will be held and talking about how the warm weather could cause some problems for the events. Snow will have to be manufactured or trucked in, Olympic Organizers fear. The students giggle as he mispronounces the names of some of the towns and cities near the Olympic City. One student keeps draws a cartoon of the reporter with a propeller beanie on his head in her binder and snickers softly to herself.
After about 10 minutes, the teacher turns off the TV and her smile fades into a look of grave concern.
"How many people volunteered to run for our school in the School Torch Relay?"
A sea of thirty faces looks blankly back at her. Apparently, no one in this particular class did!
"None. That's how many people volunteered," Mrs. Good continued. "Why is that?"
No one can come up with an answer, of course. Over the next two hours, Mrs. Good delivers one of those lectures that will either bore or inspire; one of those lectures that every teacher will deliver at least once in their career. She talks about all of the great causes that would not exist were it not for volunteers, the amazing people one can become friends with and the valuable experience gained from helping others make a difference in the world, no matter how small the contribution.
The bell rings and the students shuffle out of the room. One remains behind and approaches the teacher nervously. She is a small, shy and spindly girl with short brown hair, large brown eyes and the pale skin that defines most people in the city in the middle of winter. Mrs. Good notes that she had been sitting at her desk transfixed by the speech instead of doodling in her notebook as was her usual habit.
"Um... thanks for that speech, Mrs. Good. Do you still need volunteers for the torch relay?"
"Of course, we do," Mrs. Good replies with a smile. "Are you volunteering?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess so," the girl replies with a shy smile, her cheeks turning red with nervousness as she hands Mrs. Good a folded up piece of paper. "Here's my form."
The following week when she is supposed to be in math class, the young girl is on a school bus, heading downtown to visit one of the Olympic venues. Hundreds of students from other schools are already there, milling around. She gets off the bus and is greeted by the organizers of the school torch relay. What follows is an inspiring 2 hours of speeches given by key people in the Olympic Organizing Committee, the Mayor, the Premier and a few athletes. The girl is caught up in the excitement of the whole affair and for the first time in years feels herself filling with pride and excitement in being a part of something huge.
One week later, the weather is cool, but not too cold and a light flurry of snow falls around the girl and three other students from her school who are all in grade 9. They are all wearing plastic vests with the Sponsor's logo on it and the gym teacher is going over the route of the relay. One student will run with the torch for 500 metres while the other three run with the school's banner behind, then they will switch off. Once all four have run, the torch will be passed to a group of students from the school next door. At this point, the teacher pulls out a camera and takes pictures of all four students, one holding the torch while the others hold the banner, until all four have been photographed holding the torch.
Being the youngest, our girl gets to run first. The excitement that has been building for past half hour is now released as she takes up the 2 pound torch and begins to run. People are standing on either side, cheering, while she runs past. Before she knows it, she has run her 500 metres and it's time to pass the torch to the next person. Two hours later, she is back at school. The day is over and her mother is waiting outside to pick her up. When she gets into the car, she tells her mother about her amazing adventure and how awesome volunteering for stuff is. After that experience, she is usually first in line to volunteer for things that are going on around the school.
Running with the torch has sparked a sense of the power of community service inside this one student and she wonders how many others have been inspired by such experiences?
The year was 1988, the Olympic City was Calgary, Alberta and that student was me, Daria Skibington-Roffel, Coordinator for Volunteer Airdrie.
Since then, I have been passionate about volunteerism and have volunteered for over 20 different agencies and causes. The spirit of volunteerism was kindled that one cold day in February of 1988 and 22 years later, it is still burning strong!
The purpose of this blog is to share the experiences of individual volunteers and organizations or individuals who have been inspired and blessed by the kind hearts of volunteers. Real people make a difference in many ways through volunteerism and you can too!
Please send an email to info@volunteerairdrie.ca if you have a story to share about your own volunteer experience or how a volunteer has made a difference in your life, and it will be published here!
Make this your year to make a difference!
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