St. Michael’s principal reflects on year one, looks ahead, and discusses the upcoming Terry Fox Run

Posted on September 11, 2026 by Ryan Dahlman

By Nerissa McNaughton
Southern Alberta Newspapers

Jill Weatherhead has settled into her role at St. Michael’s School in Bow Island. As she starts her second year as principal, she carries the lessons of a busy first year and a clear sense of what she wants to protect and build.

The 2026-27 school year began Sept. 1 with a “Happy New Year” theme, a fitting way to mark fresh starts. Staff spent the first day settling into new timetables, reviewing planned trips and events, and looking at how to balance academics with the school’s faith life. Weatherhead says the energy in the building was off to a strong and positive start.

As the new and exciting year gets underway, Principal Weatherhead spent some time looking back at what changed during her first year, where she hopes to steer the school next, and why the Terry Fox event remains one of St. Michael’s most meaningful traditions.

What changed at St. Michael’s during
Weatherhead’s first year?

Weatherhead says she was surprised, looking back, at how many small but meaningful changes took root over the year. Most of them, she notes, grew out of the community rather than from the top down.

The school modified its breakfast program to better meet student needs and offer more variety. It also welcomed playschool and pre-K children as full members of the St. Michael’s community—or, as Weatherhead puts it, full-fledged Bears, after the school mascot.

Sport development programming expanded, and for the first time in many years, there will be a grades 5/6 girls volleyball team.

What are Weatherhead’s goals for the year ahead?

Weatherhead’s main goal for the coming year is to stay open and receptive to changes that serve students better while working collaboratively with others.

“I can’t do this alone,” she says. “Real change begins with the voices of our community, and my role is to be the bridge—carrying their needs to the bigger picture so we secure the support they deserve. When an initiative truly serves the community, people become passionate about it; and most of the time, the best thing a leader can do is let that passion find its course.”

St. Michael’s will take part in the Terry Fox Run on Sept 28

The Terry Fox Run is one of St. Michael’s longest standing and most well-supported traditions. Weatherhead estimates the school has taken part for more than 20 years, likely dating back near the run’s inception in the early 1980s.

Cancer, she notes, has touched families across the Bow Island community, which makes the event deeply personal. Last year, roughly 45 students raised more than $2,000—a total she calls incredibly heartwarming, given that not every family has the means to give.

This year, the school will hold its walk—rather than a run, so everyone can take part together—on Monday, Sept. 28. Details are still being finalized, but the event is very much a community effort. The school hopes the RCMP will once again escort walkers so they can take over the roads around Bow Island.

For students, the walk carries a lesson. They think about Terry Fox running on a prosthetic leg through the discomfort of his Marathon of Hope, and they see their own one- or two-kilometre trek in the sunshine for what it is—a gift.

“Our students realize their bodies can move and their bodies are a gift,” Weatherhead says of the impact of the run. “Anything we can do to pass those gifts on to others so that they can have that quality of life, we’re always happy to do.”

A school built on community and faith

St. Michael’s continues to grow through community collaboration and decisions made with students at the centre. Weatherhead is quick to credit the families who trust the school with their children, and the community members whose passion keeps new ideas alive.

The school aims to offer a well-rounded experience—one that balances academics with spiritual growth, emotional health, social development and physical wellness.

For Bow Island families, that means another year of meaningful traditions and thoughtful change. A big step on Sept. 28 will be a walk together.