Guidance Counselor Jason Lessard, Facilitator

“We were very excited that we were able to include the entire freshmen class. This involved a lot of planning and organizing! We are currently collecting feedback from a variety of people involved in order to improve the day for next year. I think it goes without saying that the guidance department believes in this day, and we will always be working on ways to improve the experience. Ultimately, it is important the entire class experiences Day for Change, which we accomplished. Now, we can reflect and find ways to improve experiences going forward.”

Economics Teacher Nicole Ruffo, Volunteer

“I think the day was a very great day. It’s always nice to see the students and faculty come together for such a meaningful event. This was my second year and I really think this is an important event at Algonquin. Day for Change helps students and faculty see that we all have a story and some of us share a similar story and that there are people here at the school that are willing and able to help. I liked both years; last year was a little more intimate, but not everyone was able to participate. This year was a great big event that everyone was able to participate in. I think they need to keep that tradition so that every freshman has a chance to say that they went through day for change and maybe that made them a better person.”

Senior Luke Farrell, Peer Leader

“This was my second time participating in Day for Change. Coming into it, I believed that my role was mainly to help freshman be more comfortable with opening up to one another. I wanted to simply help them get something out of the day and realize that they are able to talk to people in this school about who they are or about their feelings. As the day went on, I began to realize that the day was not only to help the freshman, but also the peer leaders and even the teachers. Day for change was able to bring a major part of the Algonquin community together by allowing people to get a better understanding of their peers. We were all able to see that everyone faces challenges in their lives and that there are many people in our school who go through similar struggles and are able to talk and help one another.”

Junior Kaleigh Reynolds, Peer Leader

“I like Day for Change because you find out a lot about people that you don’t know because you aren’t friends or in any of the same classes. It shows that everyone is going through something that you might not know about. Day for Change means forgetting what people are going to think of me, being honest, and letting some things go that have been hanging over my head.”