What if...every person could make a difference?

In a world that largely makes no sense to me, making nonsense has always made sense. I was seven years old, living in Moncton, when I informed my teacher, Mrs. Goodwin about my aspirations to be a writer. "I want to write poems to make people happy." Her reply? "I know you will." I would go on to learn that poems could "do" many things--entertain, educate, cause Goosebumps, provoke thought, stir ideas, call for action.

Forty-four years later, I entered a gym in my old hometown where students and teachers had done all of the above. So does this book of poems they worked so hard to produce.

I have experienced many wonderful school visits over the years, but my day at West Riverview Elementary fulfilled a dream I have as an educator. School is a place where we can educate the hearts of children as well as their minds. It is community where they learn they are members of many communities, including a global village.

Teachers like Jane Smith and principals like Diane Gillis are proof that teachers are agents of change. But so was the rest of the staff at West Riverview Elementary who so enthusiastically prepared for the day I visited. We had art and music, we had speeches and poetry, and we all knew it was for something more than this day: we were all helping raise money to buy bricks to build a school in Kenya. Best of all, I saw the students being empowered. Behind all this, was the presence and activist spirit of Craig Keilberger--a beacon of light and hope and inspiration to young and old alike. He is proof of what youth can achieve and how students become the teachers' teachers. Sometimes, " the youngest is the wisest." I didn't say that--a baby elephant told me a story. Some call that nonsense. I call it imagination.

Yes, every person can make a difference, not only in the imagining of a more peaceable and just world, but answering the call to ACTION.

I think the students of West Riverview Elementary have learned this lesson well. I think they will all grow to know that it possible to work hard, stick to it, and make a difference in the communities they live and work and travel in.

Congratulations to all and thank you for inviting me to be part of such an amazing day and project. You are a part of my heart forever. I know readers of this book will enjoy your words as much as I have.