By Renée Fournier
Community. It’s a simple word; only nine letters, but it has so many meanings and implications. It can be a place; a group; a collective; a concept. It can be big and small all at the same time. It can be local, national, or global; or a combination of them all. A community unites people with common — the root of the word — interests, goals, or concerns. Sometimes there is no common thread, and people are looking for one — to find a place to belong or a group to know or a cause to believe in.
Community for us at Sacred Heart is many things. It is on one hand the collective of students, teachers, and parents who make up the core group of individuals sharing a common goal — to provide the best for our students. And on another hand, and more broadly, it’s every student who has ever gone here, every parent who has watched their child flourish here, every faculty member who has done their very best for our students, every friend of the School who has supported us or donated to us or shared in our journey.
On an even bigger scale, it’s everyone in the Sacred Heart Network around the world — we are all part of a big and beautiful community of people who share the five Goals and Criteria of a Sacred Heart education — the same five that have existed since St. Madeleine Sophie Barat founded the first school over 220 years ago.
This community, our community, is place, group, collective, and concept all rolled into one. It is local, national, and global all at the same time. It is both big and small. And, it unites us all.
Our Sacred Heart Parents’ Guild is also a community. A community of volunteers who work together daily for the benefit of our students and our School. Together they give life to events and activities like our Hot Lunch program, parent socials, and fundraisers like the annual Christmas Fair they just hosted. The Christmas Fair is by far the biggest event the PG puts on, and to say it is a community-wide undertaking would be an understatement. Yes, it’s a core group of parent volunteers who, for months, painstakingly and with utter devotion, plan the Fair down to the very last detail. But it’s also the hundreds of parents who bake or craft; the grandparents who comb their attics for second-hand treasures to donate; the alums who drag out their gently-used uniform from the back of the closet to sell; and our neighbours who donate to our Raffle and Silent Auction.
This is community. This is our community.
Every day at Sacred Heart, we build community. It is an intrinsic part of our mission through Goal Four – The building of community as a Christian value. It drives our fundamental belief that we, all of us, must give back to our community; whether that community is here in Halifax, across the country, or around the world, and whether that means volunteering time, donating money, sharing resources, or supporting anyone in need. Sometimes it’s as simple as a kind word at the exact right moment. The opportunity — and it is an opportunity, not a duty — is in return for this privileged education our students are blessed to have.
This community, our community, is what makes Sacred Heart School of Halifax so strong. It’s why people feel so welcome here. It’s why we see generation after generation educated here. And, it’s why our students thrive here. This community, our community, is place, group, collective, and concept all rolled into one. It is local, national, and global all at the same time. It is both big and small. And, it unites us all.
