When we ordinarily think of March Madness, it is typically associated with a month of anticipation and excitement surrounding NCAA’s Division 1 basketball. Fans from every corner of the globe ready themselves for binge watching game after game, either in person or with eyes glued to the television, centering on a physical activity that has been coined as the third most popular sport in the world. 

Most especially in the last couple of years it is very important for everyone’s mental health to engage in activities that will bring joy to the heart, for we know all too well the challenges and obstacles we’ve encountered.  Going forward, we need to begin to feel relative degrees of normalcy.  Without question, I understand that everyone believes this to be true.

From a significantly different perspective of March Madness, we are finding ourselves on the cusp of what could very likely be a removal of all COVID-19 related restrictions and health protocols. With a fair degree of certainty, we are positioned to see continued and augmented polarizing viewpoints which inevitably will lead to increased divisiveness and fracture in our communities.  Since the formation of our country, Canada has been a magnet for immigrant families all over the world for a multitude of very good reasons.   The negative attention that Canada has recently garnered in worldly news, from parades of protests to complete blockages of main highways at multiple ports-of-entry in and out of the country, is incredibly unfortunate.  

Now in Family Week where we have the wonderful opportunity to gather as family, let us take every chance to recharge, renew and reset. We are slated to return to classes on the eve of March, and let’s do so in the spirit of togetherness and unity where the focus is on learning, not on the political rhetoric that is becoming more and more common and damaging to our youth.  This facade of politics must be kept out of our schools. 

The past two years have caused tremendous obstructions in learning in so many ways.  As a society, we will feel the effects of this disruption for many years to come.  That being said, our school and divisional staff have gone to no end of the earth to ensure schools are safe, caring, respectful and welcoming environments for our students to learn and staff to work. This amalgamated work has been a collective effort and includes everyone from school administrators, teachers, program leaders, support staff, office administrators, custodial and maintenance staff, information technology, business services, human resources, learning services, support services and most importantly religious education.  We recognize the significant hurdles that lie ahead but we are certainly up to the challenge.

As we are about to head into March, let us join together as a true united community to create our own March Madness. A March Madness that burns with unquenchable desires for learning that recognizes the MOST fundamental reason for the very existence of schools – that children and students entrusted to our care will learn, be cherished and reach their fullest potential.  We all have a critical role to play in this formation.  We owe it to the key stakeholders in our division, our children.