BARRHAVEN
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BARRHAVEN
Year 30 • issue 19
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FRIDAY • September 18 • 2020
Students, teachers adapting to back-to-school safety protocols By Charlie Senack Most students have been back in the classroom for over a week now and are adapting to all the new safety protocols which have been put into place. It’s going to be a school year unlike any ever seen before, says teachers, who are looking for added ways to ensure none of their students get sick this year. Maggie Jalowiec is a grade two teacher at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Elementary School, located at 41 Weybridge Drive in Barrhaven. She admits feeling nervous before heading back to the classroom for the first time since mid March. “I always am nervous about going back to school because you don’t know your students and you want to make sure that it
goes smoothly; you want to make sure that they are happy and feel safe when they come into the classroom,” Jalowiec states. “I was extra nervous this year for sure because it was a very different situation.” Jalowiec, like many teachers, was concerned about how many students she would have in her small classroom this year. Fearing she wouldn’t be able to keep the desks six feet apart, Jalowiec, a teacher at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton for the last 10 years, took to google for ideas. She decided to build partitions which would act as a barrier between the students desk. “To be honest with you, I can’t really take the credit because it was not my idea — it was something I saw online over the summer,” Jalowiec says, add-
ing she built them with her husbands and kids. After posting a photo of her classroom with the shields in place, many educators across Ottawa took notice, wanting to do the same. Some others appreciated the intent, however were concerned about safety protocols and who would sanitize them. Jalowiec says she got permission from the school board before they were built, and also will do all the cleaning herself not wanting to create extra work for the custodians who already have many enhanced cleaning measures to deal with. “I really did not realize that it was going to be such a big hit in a way, but the idea was just to help with distancing in a way because the classrooms are small,” she says. “We
don’t have the room to be spacing the desks six feet apart — maybe one metre if we are lucky — it’s just not really possible.” The Ontario government’s back to school plan was a controversial one with many educators saying they did not feel safe returning to the classroom. An online petition was started which gained hundreds of thousands of signatures. Teachers all across the province were calling upon the government to add extra safety measures and reduce class sizes. The current plan allows for a maximum of 15 students in high school classes, but there is no change for students in kindergarten to grade 8.
adapting
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Despite the focus on back to school safety protocols, there are still some forever moments being created by local families. A big brother walking his little sister to school for her first day of junior kindergarten will be a memory that will long outlast COVID-19. Photo submitted by Ana Curic
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