Meeting William

There have been soooo many highlights for me in this first WPCA year. Yes,  it has been challenging and a lot of work, but also so much fun!!  This photo captures one of my most favourite moments so far. 

Over the months I had come to know William through second-hand accounts from his friends, and was looking forward to an opportunity to meet him in person. A generous invitation from St Thomas School to attend a presentation by William provided the opportunity, and I turned it into a "Mystery Event" for the Pikelets. What fun I had watching their distress at "not knowing"!  They did their utmost to find out what the surprise event was.... and a great shout out to the parents and students that kept the secret!

I realise that I will never get to walk through a "first year" of WPCA at Wesley Int again. Next year our photos and stories will give away to future students what is going to happen, so I'm planning to make the most of the opportunity to keep things a surprise in 2019 - much to the disgust of the current Pikelets.

It was eye-opening to hear William tell his own story. On a personal level it was encouraging to hear him speak frankly of the difficulties and challenges he walked through. All of us go through seasons where we need to dig deep to find the resilience and determination and hope to keep putting one foot in front of the other... and those who dig the deepest reap the greatest rewards in character and experience.

The day also turned into a girls-only day! The boys were unable to make the event due to sickness and sport commitments. We had a lot of fun... and Mr Davis came along to meet William also. Check out his blog post about the day.

After the presentation the group of us had a few minutes to chat with William... and on the way out decided to prank him. We had arrived at the same moment he had driven into the carpark, which meant that we knew where his car was parked! From the unsuspecting school office lady we obtained some paper, dug into bags to find a pen, and wrote out a parking ticket to place on William's windscreen.

An email came through later to inform us that William had found the ticket.... and the girls' shout of laughter as they imagined his reaction could be heard all the way down the school corridor.

A huge thank you to St Thomas School for the invite, and to William for being willing to share his story.