I remember when I first arrived in Sault Ste Marie, even having traveled the world before- I felt a bit out of place. In a crowd of many I stand out for obvious reasons. As an adult I would be okay but I worried about my daughter -how would she be treated, would she make any friends , would she be accepted?
Having worked as a guidance counsellor for many years and trained in the field of behavioral science- I taught and activated every coping skill I could within her. She practiced her " I am Nevaeh and I was born in the Caribbean speech" several times before the first day of school.
She had never been on a school bus before- I always drove her to school - so many what if's and worry filled my mind.
Her first day of school came and my brave/ prepared 7 year old was off !! I worried all day...and was eager to hear how it went, when she returned home. She came off the bus beaming from ear to ear...she told me how brave she was in telling her " I am" story and how the kids could not believe she swam in the ocean at night. They asked about sharks and whales....and one asked if her skin really tasted like chocolate lol...she said yes and that her mom ate lots of chocolate while she was in her tummy. ❤️ But more than anything ...she said mummy the kids are so KIND!! To this day...my daughter has been treated with such kindness from both students and staff at her school. ❤️ This little girl will always remember the kindness shown to her. See, like us she too left ...everything! All that she had ever known her entire life! This resilient child was met with an overwhelming amount of kindsness. These children are kind..because they have been taught kindness by kind parents. So from a mama on behalf of her baby girl...thank you !
Shelly Bazil-Smith
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I remember when I first arrived in Sault Ste Marie, even having traveled the world before- I felt a bit out of place. In a crowd of many I stand out for obvious reasons. As an adult I would be okay but I worried about my daughter -how would she be treated, would she make any friends , would she be accepted?
Having worked as a guidance counsellor for many years and trained in the field of behavioral science- I taught and activated every coping skill I could within her. She practiced her " I am Nevaeh and I was born in the Caribbean speech" several times before the first day of school.
She had never been on a school bus before- I always drove her to school - so many what if's and worry filled my mind.
Her first day of school came and my brave/ prepared 7 year old was off !! I worried all day...and was eager to hear how it went, when she returned home. She came off the bus beaming from ear to ear...she told me how brave she was in telling her " I am" story and how the kids could not believe she swam in the ocean at night. They asked about sharks and whales....and one asked if her skin really tasted like chocolate lol...she said yes and that her mom ate lots of chocolate while she was in her tummy. ❤️ But more than anything ...she said mummy the kids are so KIND!! To this day...my daughter has been treated with such kindness from both students and staff at her school. ❤️ This little girl will always remember the kindness shown to her. See, like us she too left ...everything! All that she had ever known her entire life! This resilient child was met with an overwhelming amount of kindsness. These children are kind..because they have been taught kindness by kind parents. So from a mama on behalf of her baby girl...thank you !
IN A WORLD WHERE YOU CAN BE ANYTHING
~BE KIND~