Mother Teresa Junior High School , "more than just a school"!

I would like to let the community know about "Purple Day" - a very important annual event that touches the lives of many people all over the world.

"Purple Day" started as a world-wide movement in 2008 by 9 year-old Cassidy Megan from Canada, who is living with epilepsy. She hopes to raise awareness about the condition and teach others to recognize the different types of seizures.

As a student at Mother Teresa Junior High (MTJHS) I wanted the school to participate in Purple Day to support my 17-year-old brother, Jason, who has had epilepsy for the past 12 years and deals with the struggles of the situation every day. Supported by Epilepsy Montreal Metropolitan, Purple Day 2009 was held at Mother Teresa Junior High School on March 26. The goal of this awareness day was to get people talking about epilepsy and let people with this condition, especially kids, know that they are not alone. If you have epilepsy, you shouldn’t be scared.

It’s amazing how huge language is. How it can easily hurt. How It comes with so many stigmas attached to it . It can be used to build someone up, or tear them down, sometimes without the speaker even realizing it. And so it is with the word Epilepsy. There’s a certain stigma attached. While March 26 is The National day to raise Epilepsy awareness, everyone can do their part throughout the year. Needless to say, whatever contribution you make would be much appreciated. For instance, learning seizure-first aid, raising awareness, but maybe just maybe, one of the most important ways is by showing some compassion and understanding toward those who have to cope with the condition as well as toward their families. The possibilities are endless.

On behalf of my brother Jason, our family, the 300,000 Canadians and 2.5 million Americans and countless others around the world who live with Epilepsy each and every single day, a very heartfelt Thank You, to the teachers, administrators, and staff and especially my peers at MTJHS for making March 26 an informative one, and helping bring Epilepsy into the light. Once again, we have shown that Mother Teresa Junior High is "more than just a school."

Jessica Da Costa-Barbosa

Student, Mother Teresa Junior High School

I would like to congratulate Jessica Da Costa-Barbosa and the entire school community of Mother Teresa Junior High for addressing an important issue in our society – how to generate more awareness of the condition of epilepsy which affects so many people in the four corners of the world. At the end of March, at the request and suggestion of Jessica and with the full support of teachers and administrators, Mother Teresa Junior High School launched what promises to be an annual event in the cause toward helping those with epilepsy and their families. Needless to say, as we can see from the picture taken at the two-day event, the response from the student body was phenomenal. In fact, although the project did not start off as a fund-raiser, the community proved very generous in contributing about $500 to the cause.

It was also gratifying to see so many students celebrating the positive spirit of the day by wearing purple, the colour associated with this International Movement toward Epilepsy Awareness.

The project was a great success and a very important first step in the journey toward helping people with epilepsy (and their families) live better lives with the help of others. It was wonderful and heart-warming to see so many fantastic young people wearing purple shirts, purple bracelets and purple pins. The contribution made by teachers to sharing information about epilepsy with their classes was priceless and much-appreciated by all concerned.

I'm proud to say that Mother Teresa Junior High School once again lived up to its motto of being "More than Just a School". We look forward to another great Purple Day in 2010.

-@Ri>Dominic Di Stefano<@$p>

Spiritual Community Animator,

Mother Teresa Junior High School