Hey Everyone! “The Pres” here!

Boy are we on “cloud 9” after this year’s Fall Celebration! It was a huge success: we’ve heard nothing but positive feedback! Last year’s Fall Celebration was so much fun, and we had about 10 children… This year, we had around 40 children!

The community really came together to ensure that these kids had a great time…Let me tell you a little bit about how the night went…

There was a “Fall Celebration Parlor” which had all sorts of goodies for “sale”: these goodies included candies, chocolates, cookies, muffins, granola bars, cereal bars, juice boxes and water… I know you’re probably thinking that I’m mean for “charging” for the goodies, but here’s the thing, the goodies were bought with “tickets” that they earned throughout the night. There were numerous stations with different activities; children received 1 ticket for just attempting an activity, and they could receive more, if they were successful at the activity…As an educator, I’m always trying to find a way to make EVERYTHING a learning experience…So I wanted them to learn how to work hard for the things that they want. It was so cute to see them go to the parlor, price the things that they wanted, go play activities, and then come back to the parlor with the right amount of tickets! Some of my volunteers were telling me how competitive some of the children were, and how they were trying to find ways to “hustle” more tickets! LOL

The children who attended the event for the first time were surprised that at the end of the night, they received an additional bag of treats from us (reusable bags were donated by Beurling Academy). Again, I had another learning experience in mind: the entry cost is one bag of treats to share (no matter the size of the family)… I wanted them to learn that sharing is an awesome thing to do: when you share, ultimately, you get back more.

This is the first year that I’ve had this event under my organization…I am on the Beurling Academy Home and School Association, and last year, I decided to have this event (under the Home and School Association) for children who don’t go trick or treating (like my own children)… The Home and School Association approved the event with no hesitation, but no one could really help me with the event because they all had other things to do on Halloween. Although this year I did the event under my organization, Beurling Academy was still on board with supporting me with this endeavor. The Beurling Academy Home and School Association donated over $50 worth of candy to the event (they were the biggest donors this year)… And then there’s the principal of Beurling Academy, Mr. Alix Adrien… This man was the most supportive through this whole process; anything that I asked him for, he provided it. His heart is so big, it’s unreal… And Mr. Adrien stayed for the duration of the Fall Celebration, and moved all of the furniture back into their rightful place when it was over…

I may have organized this event by myself; but the success of the event that night was no thanks to me… The success of The 2017 Fall Celebration must be attributed to Beurling Academy, the volunteers and the families that came out to support the event…

I would like to say a special thank you to the following:

The Beurling Academy Family

• Mr. Alix Adrien (Having this event at Beurling Academy would not have been possible without him.)
• Beurling Academy’s Home and School Association (Nat, thank you so much for all the extra help you gave me…Cheryl thank you for the suggestions and costume donation… Nancy, thank you for the supplies.)
• Mr. Rene Horisberger
• Mr. Richie (Richie’s Cafe provided the nice tables for parents’ lounge)
• The Caretakers at Beurling Academy (Mr. Bernier always supports me and gives me the things I need, even though I’m annoying!)
• Ms. Flo (Flo has been putting up with me since I was a teenager…Anything I ask this lady for, she gives it to me. Love her!)
• Ms. Joanne
• Ms. Jamaji
• Amira Castillo-Buca (From Ms. Jamaji’s Beurling Academy Sec V Photography Class)-She devoted her evening to taking beautiful pics at the event…
• Ms. Serianni’s Sec V Baking class (They baked yummy treats for The Fall Celebration Parlor)

• Ms. Kathryn Acton
• Kimberly McIntyre (face painter)
• My volunteer coordinator: Kiara H-B
• My former students from PACC Adult Education Centre: Charish, Nayna, and Robert
• Annette B.
• Edwin F.
• Safiya S.
• Olivia Pisano
• Hailee Mingo
• Omari Sparks
• Vinyo
• Keishawn P. from Nize Dat Clothing
• The PACC staff who donated treats and juice boxes
• Christine Layne
• Tasha M.
• Melissa (M.A.W.S Kitchen-She made yummy salty cararamel cookies!)
• The SHO Board of Directors (Cecil and Gloria Hinkson)

Guys, this year, The Fall Celebration was such a success; it blew my mind! And I couldn’t have done it without you all! I can’t wait until next year!!!

Take a look at the pictures from that night!