Reflecting on a Magical Time
“Lutherwood. A place to grow. A safe place where you can be yourself, be real and have people there who are going to challenge you, but also nurture you,” said Jim Ferney, when asked to give an elevator pitch of the organization and what it means to the community. “A place full of people who give you the opportunity to deal with things in a safe environment and acquire new skills so you can go on and have success from there.”
The amount of passion he clearly feels for his time spent here makes it surprising to learn that he was a teacher here at Benjamin Road for only five years, from 1980-1985. They were clearly life-changing years for him.
“It was just a magical time. There were so many gifted people who were a part of that, and they all came with a lot of creativity, big hearts, and they helped to create this little community called Lutherwood, and the kids were all the beneficiaries of that.”
Jim frequented the pages of old Lutherwood yearbooks, both as its editor, and as a participant in drama performances, a radio station, and in organizing the painting of our mascot, the Lutherwood Lion, on our gymnasium wall.
He remembered fondly the founding of the radio station, “Sunshine Radio”, as a creative outlet for one Lutherwood youth who had trouble keeping quiet in class, and the painting of the lion with another student, who was able to express his creativity through his art and became completely dedicated and invested in the project.
Years after the youth and even Jim’s departure, other staff members fought for the lion to remain in the gymnasium and not be painted over during building updates, and after much persuading, it remains there to this day, even forty years later.
After leaving Lutherwood, Jim went on to become a behaviour resource teacher working with high-needs students at many different schools throughout the region, and even referred many of them to Lutherwood programs.
“I was able to keep strong connections with Lutherwood and my coworkers over the years,” he said. “It’s so hard to believe that this is the 50th anniversary, because it feels like I was there five or ten years ago. But time flies when you’re having fun, and obviously we were all having fun.”
When asked where Jim thinks Lutherwood will be in the next 50 years, he laughed. “Well, I just finished reading a book about colonizing Mars and I thought to myself, I wonder if in another 50 years we’ll have a Lutherwood Mars location! It is such a dynamic place that continues to grow and change by listening to the needs of the community, so I believe that anything is possible!”
