This spring, Mackay Centre School and Royal West Academy (RWA), both of the English Montreal School Board, worked in partnership to run a volunteer program giving Grade 11 students at RWA the opportunity to work with students at Mackay. The program started around the year 2000 and is open to Grade 10 and 11 students at RWA. "This collaboration is a wonderful example of schools working together to foster inclusivity, learning and mutual support," said Irini Margetis, principal of Mackay Centre School and Philip E. Layton School. "It benefits both the volunteer and the students they assist, creating a positive and enriching experience for all by allowing the RWA volunteers to assist teachers in a special needs setting and by providing Mackay students with role models."
Here are some of their perspectives.
We enjoyed having a volunteer from Royal West Academy in our classroom at Mackay Centre School. She helped us a lot. She believed in all of us. She made math easier and helped our homeroom teacher. It was nice having her with us every Tuesday morning. We looked forward to her visits each week. She was very kind, friendly and helpful. We also got to ask her questions and learned about her experience in high school. We will miss her and hope to see her again. We will alsways welcom her into our school and classroom.
Walking into Mackay Centre School for the first time, I didn't really know what to expect. I was excited, but I was also nervous that I wouldn't be able to make any real connections or make any real impact with the students. At first some of the students didn't speak to me, and I wasn't sure how to reach them. Over time, I realized that connection at Mackay required a different type of patience. It required patience to build trust with each individual student, to understand that when something takes longer it's not always a choice, and to recognize feelings that aren't always expressed with words. Some of the most meaningful moments in this experience to me were small. Riding through the hallways with a student who imagined them as roads became our little routine – it was the game we came up with to help him focus despite his attention difficulties. Hearing "I'm going to miss you" and receiving my first hug from a student who realized I had to leave for school instead of playing our usual game outside made me see that even our small, everyday interactions made an impact on him. This experience was more challenging than I expected but gave me a new perspective. It taught me that making a difference doesn't always come from big actions but rather from patience, understanding and the connections you make along the way.
