19 Oct 2015 - Family@Barker Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast

Post date: Oct 22, 2015 12:54:56 PM

By Sophia Kan

The Best is Indeed Yet to Be

For many of us, October is a month of both stocktaking and merry-making — a time to look back at the past three-quarters of the year and wonder where all that time went, and to also look forward to the respite which the final quarter offers.  In this transition or passage from old to new and from realization to anticipation, your best fellow travellers are Gratitude and Hope.

Gratitude

At Family@Barker’s Appreciation Breakfast hosted by the school, not only were there tangible expressions of gratitude such as food, the more than 40 volunteers present were also nourished by the sharing of a former student of ACS (Barker Road).  In his overcoming story, he described how he turned his life around from having been a juvenile delinquent to now being a counsellor and friend to kids at risk.  What was perhaps most interesting was his attitude of gratitude to mentors such as our Principal Peter Tan, his teachers in ACS (Barker Road) and his parents.  It was an attitude which resonated with the parents and which taught us to remain hopeful for our own sons who may be facing their own struggles.   Parents at this year’s Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast were indeed richly nourished in body, mind and spirit.

Hope

So what can we expect from the new year?  Though the uncertainty may leave some of us anxious and armed with our schedule books and SOPs, there is also the element of serendipity which awaits us — in making new friends among fellow volunteers, in discovering new ways to bring together the significant skills of our parents, and in knowing that we are part of the long tradition of ACS (Barker Road) parent volunteers.

As we leave the past behind us and move on to create a new future at Family@Barker, we look forward to the year 2016 with hearts of gratitude and hope, and believe that The Best is indeed Yet to Be.