St. Joseph's bids farewell to Ms. Nicole Britto

ST. JOSEPH’S BIDS FAREWELL TO ITS DEAR VICE-PRINCIPAL

By Ms. Lidwina and Ms. Sunita

St. Joseph’s High School, Wadala

April 6, 2015

On 18^th March 2015, the students and staff gathered in special assemblies, first the secondary section and later, the primary and pre-primary sections together, to bid farewell to their dear Headmistress/Vice-Principal of 8 years, Ms. Nicole Britto, who will be leaving the institution at the end of this academic year.

The backdrop beautifully expressed their emotions and feelings through the words “Teacher Nicole, You Have Touched Our Hearts And Ignited Our Minds”. Through entertaining and inspiring cultural programmes the Pre-Primary, the Primary and the Secondary Sections expressed their gratitude to their dear Vice-Principal and Headmistress through song and dance, celebrating her presence with them! The Prayer Song ‘Maduban Khushbu Deta Hai, Sagar Sawan Deta Hai, Jeena Uska Jeena Hai, Jo Auron Ko Jeevan Deta Hai’ amalgamated all that the children had to say to their teacher in their farewell programme. A meaningful power-point presentation capturing golden moments shared with Teacher Nicole, floral tributes, a dance to a medley of ABBA songs let Ms. Nicole know that she is loved and will be missed. The farewell addresses read out by Master Umang Achhalia (Primary Section) and Varun Tirthani (Secondary Section) were emotional, sentimental, thought-provoking and came straight from the heart.

“If love could have stopped you from leaving us, you would have never left us,” said the Head Boy of the school, Varun, in his address. He further expressed “We will certainly miss you, teacher, in our classrooms, in the church and in the school office. For all the dedicated service you have rendered to our school, we pray that God bless you with abundant graces.”

Ms. Nicole then in an emotional address expressed her deep gratitude to God for being given the chance to serve at St. Joseph’s, making helping her develop into the person she is today. In all humility she thanked the ex-Provincials, Rev. Fr. Ivo Coelho and Rev. Fr. Michael Fernandes for the confidence they had in her when entrusting her with the responsibility of Headmistress of the Secondary Section and Vice-Principal of the whole school. She was grateful for the chance she had to practice Don Bosco’s preventive system of education – something she firmly believes in. She sincerely thanked the past Rector, Rev. Fr. Aloysius Furtado, and the past Principals under whom she served in this capacity - Rev. Fr. Anthony Pinto and Rev. Fr. Bernard Fernandes – for their unstinted support, guidance and encouragement as she carried out her responsibilities. She mentioned the special qualities of service and life she had picked up from them. Ms. Nicole also expressed her thanks to the present Provincial, Rev. Fr. Godfrey D’Souza, Principal, Rev. Fr. Godfrey D’Sa and the members of the management.

Believe in yourself, stand up for what is right, love and nurture Mother Earth - this was the essence of her parting message to the children. Through the song, "Do what you do, do well", Ms. Nicole exhorted the children of the primary and pre-primary to do their best wholeheartedly. Finding it very difficult to control her emotions she concluded saying to the children, “I love you dearly. God bless you always. Nothing can ever take the place of St. Joseph’s in my heart.”

The programme concluded with the Vote of Thanks rendered by the Principal and Rector, Rev. Fr. Godfrey D’Sa, who thanked all those who had helped in organizing the Farewell function, appreciating the efforts of the teachers and students and the domestic staff. “Thank you, Teacher Nicole, for diligently carrying out your task as Headmistress, showing love and dedication to the weaker students and meticulously planning academic and cultural programmes of the school,” he said.

Teacher Nicole, we will always cherish fond memories. God bless you always and in all ways!