Parents and volunteers probably didn鈥檛 expect they鈥檇 be doing the chicken dance when they showed up for the Jasper Elementary School鈥檚 volunteer appreciation assembly, but that鈥檚 exactly what many did.
As Grade 4 teacher John Auger pointed out to the crowd at the assembly, volunteers do so much for the school that students wanted to turn the tables and teach them something instead. So students from the Kindergarten class each roped in one of the attending volunteers, and brought them to the front of the gymnasium to teach them the 鈥渢raditional volunteer dance.鈥�
Students also serenaded the smiling volunteers with a tribute poem, with each class standing up in turn and reciting one line.
鈥淣o matter what the time of year, our volunteers are always here,鈥� the Kindergarteners chanted, before the Grade 1 class stood up and sang 鈥渢o help with the students, the confused and the sick, our volunteers know they have the fix.鈥�
When it was all finished, the entire student body sprang to its feet, and with a collective roar thanked the volunteers at a nearly deafening pitch.
At the front of the gym, Auger looked toward the volunteers and gave them a heartfelt thank you.
鈥淰olunteers enrich our lives in many ways daily, without your help and dedication to our school, we would have much diminished activities at this school鈥攚e couldn鈥檛 do it without you,鈥� he told them.
As if the chicken dance wasn鈥檛 reward enough, each volunteer also got to take a handmade craft or treat on their way out of the gymnasium.
Trevor Nichols
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