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Practicing what we preach
By Marie Metzger |
December 26, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
"REALLY? How do you manage? Say it isn't so!" These are some of the responses I typically hear when people find out that I am a working mom who enjoys volunteering at my daughter's school as often as I can.
My daughter, Elizabeth, is a Grade 10 student at Concordia International School Shanghai.
The truth is that I enjoy meeting the teachers, other parents and mostly, the kids. But it didn't start out so altruistically.
It began when out of obligation, I prepared banana bread for a bake sale. Then, the allure of wearing a reindeer headband for the parent-run Christmas bazaar booth duty proved irresistible. And when no one stepped forward as a troop leader for the girl scouts, I waited until the last possible moment to sign up.
Concordia has the only senior girl scout troop in Shanghai.
It has become easier to say yes to one-time events like presenting a leadership topic to the student council at 8am on a Saturday morning (after a midnight arrival from a Singapore business trip) or chaperoning a high school dance until 10am. Did I mention that my daughter is not in student government, nor did she attend the dance?
Last spring, Elizabeth and I were couriers for the spring musical backdrop that went its way across the United States before finally making it to Shanghai. My husband and I even volunteered to build and break down stage sets. My daughter called us "theater pack mules."
If we wish for our children to be life-long learners, parents need to practice what we preach. Parent volunteers must be ready to: be a carpenter, shopper, baker or even a janitor; support a teacher at a moment's notice; and of course, encourage students.
Strange as it seems given my busy schedule, engaging with inspiring teachers, caring parents and awesome students has been a rewarding experience.
It isn't easy to juggle school, church, family and work commitments. But it's been worth it.
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