St. Patrick's principal Dwayne Unreiner dressed up as the school's mascot, greeted parents and students during the drive-by school parade.--SUBMITTED PHOTO
jappel@medicinehatnews.com@MHNJeremyAppel
Schools in the Hat’s public and separate divisions hosted physical distancing parades Thursday to honour teachers, students and parents for their quick adaptation to the new COVID-19 world.
Webster Niblock School had its staff ride in a cavalcade of vehicles along the regular bus routes, honking their horns while students and parents stood outside, carrying signs to show their support, while St. Patrick’s had their families drive to the school where the physically-distanced teachers stood outside to greet them.
Sara Reimer brought her son Tuff and nieces Kendyl and Kyler – all Webster Niblock students – to greet their educators.
She pointed out that teachers typically spend as much time with the kids as their parents do, so it’s important to give their teachers and support staff the recognition they deserve.
It was also good for the students to get out and see each other, even if it had to be at a physically safe distance.
“It’s just nice to get out there. They don’t get to see the kids in the neighbourhood anymore,” said Reimer. “It’s good for them to be able to say hi and wave. It’s important for their mental well-being to see that as everything’s changing, there’s still that good stuff.”
Kyla Darr, whose kids Addyson and Aidan attend Webster Niblock, told the News her children looked forward to the event all week.
“It was really thoughtful of the teachers to do,” said Darr. “Even though we have to do social distancing, it’s emotionally hard on kids, too – the change of routine and reschedule, and not seeing the people they care about.”
She said the parade was a creative way “to show everyone’s still there, we’ve got this and we’re all in it together.”
Darr expressed her gratitude to the school’s staff for smoothing the transition to physically distant learning.
“It’s a big change. There’s that adjustment period, but I think the staff at Webster has been great at making sure we’ve got everything we need and all the tools lined up, so it hasn’t been too painful,” she said.
St. Patrick’s School principal Dwayne Unreiner dressed up as the school’s panda mascot and greeted students as they drove by.
“Due to the size of our school and community we felt it was best to host a school parade for students and families to drive by our school as staff volunteered to say ‘hello and goodbye’ since we never got the chance to say ‘good-bye’ to students when they were all sent home,” he said. “Our hearts were filled with joy and many laughs and tears were exchanged between students and teachers during today’s parade.”
“We were very aware and sensitive to social distancing for staff and families as the school parade was spread over two hours with three 30 minute parades for ELP-Kindergarten, Grades 1 and 2, and Grades 3, 4 and 5. It was an amazing day that brought much needed happiness into all of our hearts.”
