Two county volunteers are being recognized as “Everyday Heroes” by the Upper Grand District School Board.
Both Tara Armstrong of Victoria Terrace Public School in Fergus and Lynn Clack of Rockwood Centennial Public School saw a need at their children’s school and stepped in to fill a void.
“The criteria for the annual awards are: performance at a high level at all times, a significant school or system-related achievement, a specific innovation or achievement of significant value or importance to the system, or a unique circumstance worthy of recognition by the board,” a board press release states.
This year’s recipients were chosen out of a pool of 38 nominees.
Tara Armstrong
Armstrong said she was honoured by the Everyday Hero nomination.
“That was just amazing, that the school thought that much of me,” she said. “That was pretty exciting.”
Armstrong has been volunteering in the Grade 1/2 class at Victoria Terrace Public School in Fergus for the last five years.
“My son was needing a helper in his classroom and I was like ‘I need to do something for me,’” Armstrong said. “I need to get out of the house.”
She said taking that first step was nerve-racking because she has multiple sclerosis (MS) and has difficulty walking.
That courage is exactly why Grade 1/2 teacher and nominator Laurie Vonk admires Armstrong.
“I’ve seen her fall and bounce up, ‘I’m fine, I’m fine,’ a smile on her face, always,” Vonk said.
“Everything is with optimism and … grace … She just goes about life with this ‘I can do it no matter what’ (attitude) and I think that perseverance and resilience is such a role model to the children.”
Tearing up, Vonk added, “Sometimes I think maybe she’s done so well with her MS because she gives of herself all the time and I think that that comes back, or hope that that comes back, in some way to her … To make a difference in their lives is pretty heroic to me.”
Even though her son is now in Grade 6 at Victoria Terrace, Armstrong is still volunteering with Vonk three mornings a week.
“I get to teach the way I want to teach,” Vonk said. “We do inquiries … we might do craft things but just because she’s here … I can focus maybe on behaviour and she can go and do other things … she lets me be the teacher that I want to be for these kids, so I can’t think of how to thank her more for that.”
In the classroom Armstrong has her own table set up at the back where she helps students with anything from reading and writing to math work.
“It’s just amazing watching these kids develop,” Armstrong said. “They’re not my own but they feel like it.”
In addition to her in-class volunteering, Armstrong is part of the parent council, is the snack program coordinator for the school and has organized two big fundraisers this school year.
Though her son will be graduating from Victoria Terrace this year, Armstrong said she will be returning in September to continue volunteering with Vonk and the food program.
“My son has moved on but I keep failing,” Armstrong said with a laugh. “I started when he was in Grade 2 and now he’s in Grade 6, but I will be coming back next year even though he’s gone.
“I enjoy it too much. I enjoy being here with her and I see the difference in the kids too. It’s nice.”
Lynn Clack
Clack has been volunteering at Rockwood Centennial Public School for the last eight years.
“She spends half of her life I think at the school,” said fellow parent volunteer and nominator Alana Lefebvre.
“She puts in a lot of time volunteering, whether it’s in the school yard, whether it’s with students, she runs council, she’s a liaison between the school and the parents.
“She is a kind soul and … she keeps her eyes open for all the kids.”
Clack said that she leads with her heart and if she sees someone who needs something, she tries to help.
“You want to see people happy and feeling safe and confident because I just think it’s a tough world out there,” she said. “So the greater the foundation you can help create it makes a difference, whether they know it or not.
“Because they’re too little to really understand I think sometimes.”
Clack said she cried when she was named an Everyday Hero.
She has also been on parent council for seven years and has been co-chair for five years.
“It’s just to try and help improve and work as a team and have a different perspective and just help lead the group and encourage people to be involved,” she said.
“Co-chairing I think it’s because I really want people to feel that they can be involved and they can make a difference.”
Clack’s contributions to Rockwood Centennial don’t stop at sanctioned events, though she also helps with the school’s food programs.
Lefebvre said Clack’s presence provides peace of mind for parents.
“She adds a sense of trust and parents know that they can go to her as well,” said Lefebvre. “She is a great communicator.”
In addition, every Labour Day weekend for the past five years or so, Clack has gone to the school to do a yard cleanup before the kids arrive for the first day.
“I’ll bring my kids and we pick up broken glass and we pick up everything because I worry about the kids coming in the next day,” Clack said.
“You need people who will take it on and organize it. It’s so important. And people don’t know unless you tell them because not many people I think are driving by or coming to look where I do.”
She also makes herself available to students outside of school time.
Last week two girls saw Clack at her shop in Rockwood, recognized her and asked for help with a blister.
“I’m glad that kids feel they can come to me, whether it’s in the school or out in the community,” Clack said. “I try to acknowledge everyone that I can.”
She said the best part about working at Rockwood Centennial is, “making a difference because … I don’t do it for recognition but I do think it makes a difference.
“Every act of kindness makes a difference.”
Armstrong and Clack will be attending the May 30 presentation ceremony at E. L. Fox Auditorium at John F. Ross CVI in Guelph.
Joining them will be nine other recipients, including Centre Wellington District High School child and youth counsellor Kim Sonnet and OPP constable Steven Wing from Norwell District Secondary School. For more on Sonnet and Wing, see next week’s Advertiser.
