A school with heart rallies around its principal
When tragedy struck, everyone rallied around their beloved principal
It only has 216 students, but Heritage College Lake Macquarie has touched people around the world, after the kids and their teachers went to incredible lengths to help heal their headmaster’s broken heart. When cancer took Simon Dodson’s wife of 29 years, Priscilla, earlier this year, the entire school came to a standstill, struck numb with grief for the loss of an amazing woman. “Priscilla was my great love – my only love,” says Simon. “We have five glorious children, but our school community was her extended family – everyone loved Mrs Dodson. She bravely fought cancer but sadly this cruel disease beat her – she was only 49. Hundreds attended her funeral and almost all our students turned up. It was overwhelming.” On May 18 this year, the NSW school made the decision to close its gates for a day in honour of Priscilla. However, what the popular principal didn’t know was that a group of teachers and students were planning a top secret project – a dance video.
Smiling, Simon recalls the moment at their mid-year concert in June when he first laid eyes on one of the school’s most inspiring productions on a big screen.
“Once you’ve seen it, you’ll get why there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. The entire student body was watching my reaction. I couldn’t believe they had done this for our family,” he says.
Senior students open the video with kind words for their principal saying, “Thank you for being such a great leader, and for teaching us to be brave and caring.” It’s followed by heartwarming scenes of the kids and teachers dancing.
It finishes with a touching sign-off: “When you and your family are feeling down, press play, and hopefully it will bring a smile”.
“Whenever we feel sad, we play it,” says Simon. “It actually works in lifting our spirits.”
The inspiring video has gone viral – with more than 20,000 views globally. The students hope talk show host Ellen Degeneres will see their video and invite them on her program! To see the tribute, go to Youtube and search for “We love you Mr Dodson”.
‘The entire student body was watching my reaction’