It’s the first day of school for many students across Winnipeg, and the kids aren’t the only ones excited about the start of the new school year.
Chris Wiste, a Grade 5/6 teacher at River Heights-area Ecole J.B. Mitchell School, told Global Winnipeg there’s a lot of prep work leading up to the first day, and staff have as much nervous excitement as the students.
“It’s exciting. That feeling never goes away … it’s always there. It’s like that first Jets game of the year, or first Bombers game — the excitement’s just in the air.
“You hit the ground running at the beginning of July — you’re always thinking and planning,” Wiste said. “I think the hard work really starts in the last few weeks when you’re coming into work and having meetings and getting all set up for the year.”
Over more than two decades in education, Wiste said he’s seen a lot of changes, and that students in 2023 have a much more hands-on role in their learning these days.
“I think the days of stand-and-deliver, teacher at the front of the room, students answering questions … I think that’s slowly going away.
“Students are encouraged to think for themselves and figure things out, and the goal is 90 per cent student talk time.”
J.B. Mitchell’s principal, Matt Couture, said part of his staff’s role as the school year begins is to make day one as stress-free for students as possible — a task that starts with opportunities for the 400 or so kids, and their parents, to meet their teachers and visit the classroom ahead of time.
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“Last night we had ‘meet the teacher’ to try to take care of some of those fears,” Couture said.
“Our parents and kids actually entered the building last night — we were here until about 5:30 or 6:00, and they got to see their classrooms and meet their classroom teacher.
“We’re very fortunate to have a very strong administrative leadership team. They’re very strong, they’re positive…. Many were in over the summer trying to do all the prep work they need to do to make sure the kids have what they need right from the outset of the year.”
Parents say they appreciate the extra work.
Dana Gagnon, chair of the school’s parent advisory council, has three girls attending classes at J.B. Mitchell, and told Global Winnipeg it’s clear how much the teachers and administration care about the students.
Gagnon said the experience has been “incredible” since her oldest started at the school last year.
“We were able to meet with the administration, we met with her teacher before we enrolled here. We were able to have such a fortunate experience and a great opportunity here.”
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