“This little light of mine.”

In the complex environment of a school community, the work of School Support Officers—front office workers, bus drivers, grounds people, and classroom SSOs—is often the unseen thread that holds everything together. While teachers and administrators are rightly celebrated, it is essential to pause and reflect on those whose work behind the scenes, or at the edges, makes daily life at school safe, welcoming, and productive. This week at PPN we are celebrating this tireless army of workers who contribute so much to our school.

Our front office people do more than just answer phones or questions when people come in face to face. They are the faces and the voices that most people first meet before they connect with our school. We are so thankful for their smiles and all the help they give to new people, staff and students. The bus drivers get the children to school on time and safely every school day. The grounds people, as one of the students said, “take care of all the beautiful plants we have around the school.” The classroom SSOs also do so much to help with the students’ learning and give so much support to the teachers as well.

The joy of celebrating all our support staff reminded me of a song by Ina Mae Duley Ogdon, “Brighten the Corner Where You Are” which has the words: “Brighten the corner where you are/Someone far from harbor you may guide across the bar/ Brighten the corner where you are.”

We are blessed and surrounded by people who each “brighten the corner where they are” everyday to support the values and the goals of PPN. For these awesome people, we are grateful to God every day and ask that God will continue to bless them and make them a blessing to our school community.

THANK YOU, NON-TEACHING STAFF.

Are you brightening your corner?