The end of the school year is a time when many teachers and school staff breathe a sigh of relief, and that couldn’t be more true for educators on the other side of the 2020-21 school year.
“(It was) confusing, crazy, wonderful in some ways that we’ve learned a lot,” Sargent Park Grade 7 science teacher Tom Cann told Global News.
“It was a lot of it was pivoting, pivoting from one scenario to the next to the next to the next.”
From embracing technology and remote learning, physical distancing, wearing masks all day and constantly adapting plans, the year was filled with many hurdles for both students and staff.
Lorielyn Castillo-Holigroski, a grades 5 and 6 teacher at Sargent Park School, said it seemed daunting in September, but it worked because everyone made it a team effort.
“We had to step up and make sure we were models to our students and our parents,” she said. “This year I felt more connected to everyone, in terms of everyone doing the exact same thing to make sure we were safe.”
She also says the students played a huge role.
“Kids are resilient, I think they’re more resilient than we think,” Castillo-Holigroski said. “And as difficult as it was, I think they truly understood the importance of it.”
For Sargent Park gym teacher Kayla Tetrault, it meant a year of outdoor gym classes, even during the cold Manitoba winter.
“It has been a whirlwind, lots of challenges but also a lot of really great things came from this year,” Tetrault said. “Our students did an amazing job adapting with all the changes that happened and I’m super proud of them.”
Dufferin School Grade 6 teacher Mary Jane Napolitano says the pandemic forced her to learn a new way of operating.
“Fifteen years I’ve been here at Dufferin School. I know how I roll, but when this pandemic hit, I needed to do a lot of changes,” she said.
She says students and staff learned many unanticipated lessons along the way, and while many educators are hoping to welcome students back into class in-person next fall, she says there are many lessons that she hopes will stay with students and staff.
“I had such a great experience with my students, the learning that took place is unimaginable,” she said.
“This is something that we would not like to do again, but there’s a lot of things we can take from this.”