Jasper Elementary School teacher Deborah Wood is off to Grenada next week, and for the second straight year, she’ll come bearing gifts.

A unified fundraising effort that Wood initiated last year but that the entire school participated in saw generous Jasperites come up with just over $2,500 to support the youngest survivors of Hurricanes Ivan and Wilma. The two storms ravaged the tiny Caribbean nation in back-to-back years, leaving an already poor country with even less in the way of infrastructure and a reduced ability to provide essential services.

Last year, the school raised close to $6,000, and although that amount was not duplicated this time around, Wood is still very pleased.

“I’m absolutely thrilled,” she said. JES arranged or participated in nine separate fundraising events, including selling 50/50 tickets at a Jasper Wolves game and being part of a special pizza night at the Jasper Pizza Place. Donations have also come in from individuals and businesses. The autoworkers at Jasper Park Lodge also came through with a generous donation, something that had been unexpected, Wood said.

Just like last year, Wood will hand deliver the money to the Grenada Union of Teachers. It’s a surefire way, she said, of ensuring that the donated monies go to the cause for which they are intended.

Wood’s involvement with that organization stems from an earlier trip she took with Project Overseas, an exchange set up by the Canadian Federation of Teachers. She’s found herself drawn back to the island country for more than just compassionate reasons. Wood is completing her Master’s Degree in leadership from Royal Roads University and her thesis is focused on teaching in Grenada. She’ll be finishing her field research when she travels there later this month.

Her new qualification will also bring about a major change for Wood in her Canadian career. She has been hired as the Supervisor of Learning Services for the Grande Yellowhead Regional Division, meaning that after 19 years, Wood will no longer spend her days in a classroom.

Two things made the promotion an attractive choice, she said.

“It was a leadership position and also, it was a job working closely with special needs students and when I went to university that was my area of specialization.”

Wood will be based out of Jasper and Hinton, and figures she’ll spend a fair amount of time on the road, given that her job description involves working closely with every school principal in the division.

“I’ll definitely miss the kids,” she said. “There’s that reciprocity of learning and they make you laugh every day. There’s an absolute enjoyment you get when you spend time with kids each and every day.”

Wood is taking on her new responsibilities right away, but will be helping her grade four class adjust to a new teacher.

“They asked ‘are we still going to get some free time’ or homework with the new teacher cause they’re used to my kind of structure,” she said.

Her departure does not mean the end of the effort for Grenada, she added.

“Even though I am leaving, the fundraising activities and endeavours will continue all the way through until the end of June,” she said. “We will send the money through the Canadian Federation of Teachers.”