We would like to warmly invite you to stop by and see us in the Draper side cafeteria after dropping your child off for their first morning. We will have croissants, fruit, coffee, tea and tissues!
Come have a chat with parents reaching the same milestone tomorrow, commiserate or celebrate, whatever you are feeling. Some Home and School volunteers will be on hand to answer your questions and let you know about upcoming events.
Looking back, what a busy year it has been! Kristy came to the co-chair role as an old hat and Daniela as…. a new hat. It was instant chemistry though, right from Corn Roast planning. Our shared appetite for silly shenanigans coalesced quickly to kick Corn Roast up a notch with some competitive vintage games. And for the rest of the year, we kept our focus on what Willingdon needed most post-Covid … the return of that old school in-person vibe.
Let’s look back. In somewhat chronological order, Home and School’s activities included (drum roll please)……
1 “Welcome Back Willingdon Families!” Corn Roast
1 QHFSA Membership Drive (keeping us an honest Association member)
1 Annual Pizza Campaign*
1 Annual Froyo Campaign*
1 Crazy Halloween Extravaganza
3 Scholastic Book Fairs (rewards go to teachers to purchase classroom tools and supplies)
1 Carolyn’s Toy Drive (benefiting local families for Christmas)
FSF Holiday Baskets
2 Food Drives (benefiting four different local organizations)
1 Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week and additional gestures throughout the year
1 Family Pancake Breakfast
1 Willingdon Logo Design Campaign
1 Spiritwear Campaign*
1 Student Film Festival
1 Grand Finale Bash (Unprecedented!)*
Decorating for Winter and Spring Concerts and Kindergarten Graduation
Interior Beautification Projects in both buildings
Volunteering for photo days, vaccination days and open houses
Countless hilarious Weekly Newsletters!
(events marked with * raise funds for Home & School to run all the other activities)
And last but not least, Grade 6 Grad Committee with several dedicated fundraisers. We wish all our graduates a sincere “Woot! Woot! Congratulations!”
We are thankful to have our parent photographer this year who captured many of our memorable events, and we are thankful for our numerous parent volunteers – many hands do indeed make light work. Some of you do some serious heavy lifting and our hats are off to you. You are rockstars!
We can not close out this year without a huge shout-out to our dedicated Scholastic Book Fair Team, Michelle, Sharon, Eva, Megan (and their team of volunteers). It is a huge undertaking and requires coordination with Scholastic, the school administration and a team of volunteers and not only did you do it once and then twice but for the first time ever, THRICE! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
We applaud our teachers, staff and administration for the heavy lifting you do day in and day out. We wish our dear Miss Carmen and Mr. McKelvie a warm and heartfelt adieu and best wishes for your new adventures. We will see you around, of that, we are sure. And lastly, thank you to our Executive Committee – Andrea, Veronica, Adam, Margo, and Claudia. Your dedication is appreciated. You have been generous with your time and the school is better for it.
As the school year winds down, we have one final responsibility to launch the school supplies’ campaign. Keep an eye out for a separate communication this week with scheduled reminders in the coming three weeks.
Wishing everyone in our amazing community a safe, happy, adventure-filled summer!
Kristy and Daniela
Your Co-chairs, a.k.a. Thing 1 and Thing 2
That’s the word that keeps coming to mind when we think back to Friday night’s Grand Finale. Unprecedented turnout despite the rain. Unprecedented resilience from our volunteers. Unprecedented patience from our parents as we adapted to the weather. And unprecedented funds raised setting us up for a good start in the new school year. We’ll share more details on that front at the Annual General Meeting planned for June 26 online. You’re welcome to attend.
And as we scrambled, pivoted and even despaired (ahem, Daniela), we were reassured that all was not lost by the waves of laughter from the dunk tank crowd, the energy of the kids messing around, the fact that running out of food meant people were eating and the palpable happiness in the air. And the rainbows! What a fortuitous sign. We were stubbornly optimistic when we made the call earlier in the afternoon to push ahead. We said “either way, it’s going to be memorable” and that it was.
A genuine heartfelt thank you to all our volunteers. You went above and beyond, sticking it out in the downpour and staying on at your posts past your committed time. Thank you to our parents for showing up and taking part – rain be d$#**ed. And thank you to Carmen, Peter, Eugenia, Rosie, and Elena for your enthusiastic support pre, during and post event. Friday was a testament to Willingdon’s community and we couldn’t be prouder.
Note: This article pre-dates the QFHSA which was established and joined by Willingdon Home and School in 1945.
Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week (TSAW) was a great success!
A huge thank you to the wonderful members of our community who generously supplied plants, coffee & dolci, and new bags for the teachers and staff!
Our most heartfelt appreciation to every single teacher, staff member, and Willingdon’s admin team for everything you do — big and small — for our kids day in and day out. 
