With a little help, St. Andrew's Elementary replaces its Pride flag

When St. Andrew's Elementary noticed its cherished Pride flag was tattered from stormy winter weather, the school asked St. John's Pride for help raising a new one.

School staff, students, and members of St. John's Pride gathered around the school's flagpole Thursday for the flag-raising ceremony.

"Any time you get an opportunity to come into the community and represent everybody, I think it's a fantastic thing. So we were certainly very pleased when St. Andrew's gave us a call," said Greg Noseworthy, co-chair of St. John's Pride, which provided the school with the flag.

Principal Leanne Morrissey said the flag represents a tradition of making students feel welcome, and added she wasn't comfortable with displaying the old, damaged flag.

"It was getting fairly tattered from all of this weather, so we wanted itto be represented in a respective way," she said.

"So we gave St. John's Pride a call and said, 'Can you help us out?' And they graciously offered to do that, so I'm really pleased."

Promoting inclusivity

A flag doesn't cost very much, but it's worth much more than its price tag to the school. Julia Warren, a school counselor at St. Andrew's, said the flag helps to make all students feel welcome.

"One of the goals at St. Andrew's is that all of our kids feel welcomed and safe in a very inclusive building," she said.

"So representing the Pride flag and having it flown every day at St. Andrew's certainly adds to that very accepting, loving environment that's very important at our school."

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