Br Lukasz from the Savio Salesian College Chaplaincy expresses thoughts we all share, as students move on from our Salesian schools around the Province. Along with him, we wish all our leavers happiness and success as they take the next steps in their lives.

Five years passed double-quick. 84 year-elevens were crying, signing their t-shirts, taking last photos and hugging their teachers. Everybody gathered in the Assembly Hall. They were so excited. These were their last minutes in Savio Salesian College. Happiness was mixed with nostalgia because this was their last time.

All the students took their seats. It was the morning of Friday, 14 June 2019, their last morning in Savio. Teachers presented special slides prepared for this Leavers' Assembly. Students were delighted! After laughing at their own photos from Year 7 (It is amazing how much they have changed!) and playing the "Guess who?" game (trying to spot the answer which teacher's or student's photo is on the screen) the time had come to present all the special awards prepared for this moment. Among them were: Sports Personality; a person who will certainly become a prime minister; the "Good Samaritan" award for a person ready and keen to help; a person who is most likely to get the Oscar Award; or the Savio Nobel Peace Prize. Also, there was an award for the best couple or a funny one like the prize for the person caring the most about their hairstyle. Everybody had great fun and enjoyed watching the students celebrating with pride their successes and moments of glory. We are even more proud because a large group of the students were pupils who had been involved in various activities with Chaplaincy.

Something important has finished, something great in all these lives is about to begin. We don't know what the future is, but certainly we are sure that these students can make a difference in our world. Members of the Chaplaincy Teams in each Salesian School in the Province were looking at these moving scenes and were probably thinking about all the Retreats, Feast Assemblies, Class-Masses, prayer and inputs delivered throughout these 5 years. At the end of the school year, in the whole GBR Province, we share the faith and hope that fruits of this work will be visible later on in all these precious young lives which God has entrusted to us.

In Savio Salesian College, all the leaving students have received Salesian book, written by Fr David O'Malley SDB, Trust the Road. We wish them all the blessings and gifts of Holy Spirit on their Road. We know that Don Bosco will look after them. After all for him, "it is enough that they are young" to love them and to care very much for them.

Br Lukasz Wojcik SDB

Now in its 4th edition, Trust the Road is given to school leavers by many schools across the UK and beyond. Available from our online bookshop here, it costs £6.00 plus p&p, and there are discounts for bulk purchases - call Don Bosco Publications for bulk orders: +44 (0) 1204 308 811.