Service

Service Statement

I believe that one of the most important ways to be part of our communities is to be involved in ways that reflect our passions and interests. My background as a volunteer from a young age has shaped my belief that as a parent, educator, and community member, my life and the lives of those around me are enriched by a life of service to others. I also believe that a life of leadership stems from a perspective of servant leadership: we lead with and for others. If we see life as hierarchical, we will miss out on deep and meaningful relationships with those we work and live with in community.

How will we navigate these times? The answer is, together. We need each other differently now. We cannot hide behind our boundaries, or hold onto the belief that we can survive alone.

Margaret J. Wheatley

As a university student, I volunteered at a program called Teen Challenge in downtown Vancouver, an addiction recovery centre that allowed teens without strong home roots with a safe space to hang out, and I knew as an aspiring teacher that I needed to see a side of kids’ lives that I hadn’t experienced. 

I have supported kids’ camps for years, as a volunteer leader and director, and put together summer camp programs and church day camp programs that drew families and kids together who needed community during the off-time from school, and kept them learning, playing, and having fun. 

I have led at the school level throughout my own time as a parent, as both a PAC member and PAC chair, seeing the life of a school as both a parent and teacher, in an effort to support the overall aims of engagement and learning in each school. I served as a member of a district French Advisory Committee for some years, in support of French Immersion education, and also served as chair for four years of a chapter of Canadian Parents for French, working with parents at each French Immersion school in the district to provide activities, resources, and parent education. I continue to support our school PAC as the educator representative, and to encourage as much parent involvement as possible in the life of our school, which is a passion of mine – without family connection at the school level, our education context will not only be less rich, it will be fragmentary at best. 

I served, with my children, at a church-community soup kitchen every month for five years, and celebrated the importance of recognizing the homeless people on the streets of our community because we had chatted at lunch and had a connection, no matter how small. I have been involved in the fundraising activities of many community charitable organizations, as a participant and organizer. 

And, because education and support for people with challenges and dis/abilities is so close to my heart, I serve on the boards of both a local non-profit society which provides tutoring for students with learning disabilities or other needs, 4R’s Education Centre, and of L’Arche Comox Valley, a community of belonging for people with developmental disabilities. 

Through church involvement, youth and kids’ activities, working with the homeless and addicted, and supporting a community of involvement for kids and families in school and learning, I have always felt connected to my community, wherever I’ve lived. This gives added fullness to my life as an educator, mother, wife, daughter, and community member, and signals my priorities to my students and my colleagues. 

The #AsIAm videos are produced by L’Arche International, as an invitation to imagine the world differently and to help us to rejoice in who we are, as we are. L’Arche is an international organization, whose purpose is to “create communities of friendship and belonging. In L’Arche, people with and without intellectual disabilities live, work, learn, and grow together. L’Arche demonstrates that when persons with intellectual disabilities take their place at the table, they contribute to a more just, compassionate, and vibrant world for all.” (www.larche.ca)

Their stories remind us that people with disabilities are often more disabled by the societies they live in than by their bodies or diagnoses.