ST. PETER SCHOOL - Cathy Fasey

Post date: May 3, 2009 6:16:03 PM

“It helps me when I'm sad, it helps me know there is nothing wrong with me, it teaches me about love, it gives me courage to do stuff, it teaches I am okay the way I am, it gives me joy; if someone calls me stupid, it's the inside that counts; if I'm bullied I'll get somebody to help me;it helps me be happier, it helps friendship, if I'm mad I get to feel better, it's fun, it helps me be kind, it heals, it gives peace.”

The Children Sharing the Journey in the Classroom at Saint Peter's School in Orangeville Ontario, began in the early months of 2005. My name is Cathy Fasy, and I am an Accredited Journey Practitioner. I introduced The Journey for children to Carla Dziob-Smith, the Principal at Saint Peter's School. At the time, I had been working at this school for a year as an Occasional teacher. Now, I was offering to volunteer, visiting classes, doing Journey work in the Classroom. I gave The Journey for Kids book by Brandon Bays to the Principal, who also went on to the Journey website, and saw the amazing results that the Journey with children was having in the world, in particular, in South Africa, The Principal asked me to speak to the teachers at a Staff Meeting about this work, which I did. At that Meeting, I offered to visit Classrooms. A schedule was then set up on a rotating basis that worked for both me and the classroom teacher, Thus, the Journey in the Classroom began by visiting one class at a time.

The children were so open to this empowering, healing work, I used different methods of sharing according to the ages of the students. In The Journey for Kids book, there is a story called: A Healing Adventure for Kids. I shared that story with many classes. When I did, I could hear a pin drop in the room. The children's attention was riveted on this deeply healing story. Role playing was often used. Students would give ideas and then would role play a challenging situation from their own experience; e.g. feeling put down, left out, bullied, etc. When the situation was shared, no names were given. In Act One, the children would role play whatever happened. Then, in between Acts, there was an opportunity for a great learning. Students gave ideas of what inner qualities would have helped in dealing with the situation. Children saw these inner qualities as ‘balloon resources’ which were breathed in as they were named. The children and I gave ideas for these inner resources, qualities such as: trust, ability to ask for help, creativity, ability to say how I feel, co operation, forgiveness, joy, peace, self esteem, I'm okay, etc. Then, Act Two began. Even though it was the same scene, the children saw the amazing changes, as the children acted now with the strength of their inner resources. Everyone could feel the difference. This role play held deep "inner changes" that were empowering, uplifting and healing for the children. Other methods of sharing were art, short meditations and Classroom Journey Processes. The Staff and students at Saint Peter's School also had the great joy of welcoming and learning from Skip Lackey, who gave two assemblies for the students.

How did the children benefit from this work? Children learned that they have within them an inner shining radiance, like a diamond. They were born with this Love. Through the years, this inner radiance, this diamond, can get covered over with hurts, which feels like "mud" on their diamond. To learn to deal with the hurt when it happens, as early on as possible, is a most valuable gift we can give the children, setting them free to shine with confidence in their own innate goodness. A child may have layers of hurt, and experiences of failure and emotional shut downs. The Journey in the Classroom gives the child tools to deal with challenges, and resolve issues peacefully. I have seen them use these tools when situations have arisen. So very often they remember these helps and these resource balloons and remind me and each other to tap into them. The depth of their learning teaches me. When a classmate experiences a challenge, I have seen the children reach out with kindness and concern, giving some resource balloons to the child in need. Being aware of their own inner strengths can affect all areas of their lives.

The following are some words from the children when I once asked them how this work helped them. “It helps me when I'm sad, it helps me know there is nothing wrong with me, it teaches me about love, it gives me courage to do stuff, it teaches I am okay the way I am, it gives me joy; if someone calls me stupid, it's the inside that counts; if I'm bullied I'll get somebody to help me; it helps me be happier, it helps friendship, if I'm mad I get to feel better, it's fun, it helps me be kind, it heals, it gives peace.”

It has been a privilege and a Grace filled experience to be able to share The Journey work with children and staff at Saint Peter's School. I will be forever grateful that Carla Dziob-Smith supported and encouraged this work at Saint Peter's.

Signed by:

Carla Dziob-Smith

Principal