Inside King's-Edgehill School
Dear KES Family:
This last week has been punctuated by moments of happiness and wonder. There are too many to mention, and each student and teacher would have his or her own, but here are some of mine:• Re-uniting with the day students from the HRM! Having the “family” back together again feels right. From classes to clubs and sport, there has been a wonderful injection of energy and normalcy as friends and teachers have returned to campus.
• The Advent Christmas Services were more beautiful, intimate, and meaningful than ever. The pandemic restrictions meant that they must be shorter, without congregational singing, and with much fewer in attendance to allow for spacing. The end result was a grade specific service featuring readers and servers and performers from those grades (with a few over-lapping performances). I always love our big annual service but prefer what we did this year. You can find a recording of the Grade 12 service on our KES Facebook page.
• Wednesday night was dark and cold, yet we had fourteen students and six deer (yes deer!) on the pitch for Rugby Club at 9:00pm. Divided into two teams of seven and playing across half of the field under the brilliant stadium lights, we were well underway when Santa’s team (literally!) casually trotted onto the other half of the pitch. They knew we were there but didn’t seem to be bothered. It was magical!
• I have mentioned before the unexpected pleasure of greeting day students each day for screening. It must be said that KES faculty Kim Walsh, Graham Chandler, and Glen Faucher have turned the morning ritual into an event! Flanked by Christmas trees and wearing reindeer or Santa hats, with festive music playing, their festive spirit is matched only by their exuberant greeting. This week they started a “Guess Your Temperature” contest, offering Smarties and Candy Canes as prizes for those who guess correctly. It is the funniest thing ever. The jubilation when someone guesses correctly is genuine and totally infectious. It’s hard to describe it with any kind of justice. It is pure fun.
• To our delight, Belinda and I have had two girls from the HRM staying with us. To our amazement they decided to stay with us throughout the week even though the day buses home have been running since Wednesday. To our happy surprise, they have been inviting their friends over for visits and snacks and evening study. Last night I came home to find five girls and Belinda sitting around our kitchen table, feasting on fresh baked cookies and hot popcorn, playing a game of “Two Truths and a Lie”. Healthy and happy memories in the making.
• I received two letters of gratitude this week. The first letter was from Operation Veteran in Ottawa singing the praises of faculty Pat LePoidevin and Kevin Lakes, as well as students Sarah Bell, Taylor Cole, and Sean Hurley for doing “nothing short of a miracle” with the production of Canada’s official Remembrance Day Video (with an introduction, among others, by her Excellency The Right Honourable Julie Payette, Governor General of Canada). The second letter was from the Family Resource Centre of West Hants expressing “gratitude for the hard work and generosity shown by Kelly Fillman and her students in arranging donations for families in need in the Windsor-West Hants area.” The presents donated by KES families were exceedingly generous and because of them these local “families are going to enjoy a spectacular Christmas due to their efforts!”
It has been a very good week!