Each year Baby Celebrations are held to honor and thank the babies and parents who have participated throughout the school year in Roots of Empathy classes. Approximately 100 people including 13 babies and their parents from the  District 16 Roots of Empathy  program gathered to celebrate the “World’s Youngest Teachers” on Monday, June 15th. These teachers , babies ,who spent one class per month since October 2008 in a classroom in District 16 were celebrated along with their parents and community supporters. The Baby Celebration, which was sponsored by Leon Bremner, of Bremner Farms, Napan, acknowledged the contributions of the babies, their parents, the schools and the many agencies and individuals who supported the Roots of Empathy program this year.  The babies gathered on the green blankets with toys that they were familiar with and songs were sung and the audience witnessed the power of song in calming a group of busy one year olds.  The celebration brings to a close another s successful year of ROE in schools in our community.  Those in attendance heard about the benefits of the program from various perspectives. Roots of Empathy is about seeing things from someone else’s point of view and it was evident that there was lots of love and empathy  for these babies from the students  Maggie Jardine and Alexandria Gilliss who spoke on behalf of the 400 students who participated this year. The parents, Graeme & Margaret Young and Colin & Shiann Holmes who spoke about their experiences mentioned  the joy that they felt when the students, teachers and staff welcomed their babies into classrooms and celebrated all the developmental milestones the babies reached. They expressed their wish that all students in our province could experience the Roots of Empathy program.  A Grade 3 teacher , Amy Anderson Mckay brought her perspective and told of the many things that her students had learned this year from the ROE program. An instructor, Cathy Carnahan talked about the opportunity that this program gave her to get to know the students in the class personally and about the love that she felt for Baby Natalee Keezer. Mary Gordon, Founder of Roots of Empathy says that “Love Grows Brains” and love was evident at this wonderful celebration. If anyone is interested in knowing more about Roots of Empathy the website is www.rootsofempathy.org or locally they could contact Darlene MacDonald at 778-6888 or by e-mail at Darlene.macdonald2@gnb.ca . To view photos from the celebration visit http://www.district16.nbed.nb.ca/gallery/roots-empathy .