Acadia S.M.I.L.E. Story - Jody Stevenson (Acadia S.M.I.L.E. Parent)

Something happened to me a couple of on a Tuesday morning that I should share with all of you.  A little background first:  I am a SMILE mom and I am also a Resource teacher at KCA in Kentville.  As a parent, I have had many opportunities to personally witness the benefits of the SMILE program, but as a Resource teacher, I have not had that much involvement beyond sending the forms home and enthusiastically recommending the program to parents.

I have always been amazed that so many university students, all of whom have busy academic and social lives, are willing to get up so early on a Saturday (or Tuesday or Thursday) morning and spend three or more hours of their free time working with children with special needs, some of whom have significant behavioural, cognitive and physical challenges.  Sometimes I can't even believe that it's true (after all, aren't university students supposed to sleep in whenever they get the chance?), and I have counted my lucky stars that I live in the Valley so many times I couldn't even begin to keep track.  SMILE is a huge commitment, and the fact that so many of you are willing to make that commitment is mind-boggling to me.  I did my fair share of volunteering in university, but I never got up at 7 am to do it!

I could write a page (actually pages and pages) about how much SMILE has meant to my family, but I want to focus on the morning that motivated me to write this letter.  Two weeks ago, one of our KCA SMILE drivers was sick and unable to make it to school.  Unfortunately, we didn't really have a back-up driver, and the decision was made that one of the older students - I'll call him Ryan -would stay back.   I thought that he would be able to handle it better than some of the younger kids, and I really didn't think it would be a big deal for him, as he is not autistic and generally handles change and surprises as well as anyone else.  Twenty minutes after the decision had been made, I was called to the lobby to provide support for a upset student.  Running downstairs, not knowing who I was being called to support, I found Ryan sitting on one of the benches in the main foyer of the school, sobbing uncontrollably and incoherently because he couldn't go to SMILE.  It broke all our hearts, and thankfully, the decision was made that I could cancel my classes for the morning and bring him to SMILE myself. 

During the car ride to Wolfville, I found out exactly how wrong I was when I thought that missing SMILE would not be a big deal for Ryan.  It turns out that SMILE is the ONLY opportunity he has each week to drive in a car, the ONLY chance he has to visit another town, and the ONLY time he has the one-on-one attention he craves.  Ryan feels safe, accepted and important when he goes to SMILE - feelings that he doesn't get to experience as much as we would all like him to in the rest of his daily life.

Watching Ryan and two other KCA students that I work with in the pool that morning, I finally fully realized what SMILE gives to students like Ryan.  To put it simply, SMILE brings smiles to their faces - smiles that are not there nearly enough, smiles that light up their faces and make people see them for who they really are - wonderful, playful kids, having fun and enjoying a swim with a friend.  It was a very moving experience for me, and made me determined to try even harder to make them laugh and smile when I see them in school.  Thank you to each of you for helping me learn the value of a smile!

Anyway, I just wanted to write to express my thanks to all he volunteers and hopefully help everyone understand how important they are to these kids.  If it weren't for you, kids like Ryan might not have a solid hour of fun and laughter in their lives, or they might not have a positive role model outside of school.  If it wasn't for you, they wouldn't have as many opportunities to enjoy being a kid or as many reasons to smile.  Thank you for everything you do to make SMILE such an amazing program for all the kids that get to participate.  Your energy, enthusiasm, dedication and patience is recognized and appreciated by parents, Resource teachers, EAs, and anyone else lucky enough to be part of the SMILE experience.

Sincerely,

Jody Stevenson
(a.k.a.: Nora and Anna's mom)

Acadia S.M.I.L.E. Story - Pat Murphy

December 20, 1995 the founder and director of SMILE passed away.  This individual had a positive impact on hundreds of young people and, in many cases, the impact was profound and life changing.  I was one of those young people in the profound category.  I’m no longer that young, however, I feel the influence of this man every day. 

He was, a strong teacher, a national winning coach, a good father who became great, an excellent role model for service and for me, he was a fabulous friend.  SMILE was the embodiment of its creator.  The program at its core was about the awesome power of relationships.  It is a belief that a bond with a significant person in your life makes a difference and sometimes it makes all the difference. 

I still, to this day, come into contact with people who tell me stories of how this man changed their life in small ways and, in many cases, in deep and potent ways.  Often the stories are related to career paths, personal determination and variations of their personal character development.  I meet many parents of children who were involved in SMILE and they talk of the influence of the program on their children and affect it had on their development.  Those parents still speak of his kindness, compassion, sense of humour and how he influenced their outlook on their life and that of their children.

Without Jack I would not be what I am today, such as it is.