March 27, 2012

Today was a day that started early and was designed to be memorable. We saw three sand dams in various stages of maturation, got a brief chance to shovel out a terrace, shook some hands, climbed some rocks and said things like, “No seriously, I don’t feel car sick.” It was a full day and in all of this rushing and seeing one event struck with particular force.

I’m a teacher and I teach grade four at Menno Simons Christian School. Schools are an environment that I’ve been in for almost as long as I can remember. I’m at a point now where schools are basically my native habitat so when we were invited to go and check one out I was…tired. But that was because I had gotten up super early. Beyond that I was curious. Sand dams and farms are interesting but schools are where I work, where I spend most of my time. This was going to be something that I could relate to in ways more numerous and direct.

Menno Simons Christian School has made it a habit to participate in MCC’s School Kit Initiative. That is a lesson I’ve taught and a program that I’ve helped my students to be a part of. Intellectually, I’ve always understood it. I’ve always liked the idea behind the program, MCC’s planning and educational component to the program and the actual process of collecting and collating school supplies. This morning I saw those supplies again. They were in their intended home.

They were in boxes in the school’s main office. They were unassuming, neatly stacked and some of them were open. They had MCC Alberta stenciled across the side. 

These were the kits that I had talked to my class about. These were the supplies that were going to help the teachers to teach and the students to learn. There they were, a bridge between my classroom and theirs. The bridge that the kids in my school helped to build.

The impact was surprisingly visceral and affecting. There is a divide between intellectual understanding and true appreciation.  Appreciation cannot exist without understanding but the opposite is need not necessarily be true. I understood and I still do, but now I can also appreciate.

I’ve seen the bridge and while I may never have a chance to cross it, at least now I can truly appreciate that it’s there.

Theo Weibe