UMEI provides alternate option for high school students

By Sarah Wiens

LEAMINGTON — If you’re a parent to school age children in 2020, you are likely stressed.

With the recent announcements from the Ministry of Education regarding the opening of schools, many feel they are choosing between their children’s mental and physical health.

UMEI Christian High School in Leamington has a fully developed plan to maintain high standards of safety and sanitization, while offering a full course load on campus.

“Due to our small class sizes, we are in a unique position to be able to safely offer in class instruction five days a week, while maintaining distanced learning spaces,” explained Principal Sonya Bedal. “We have a detailed, well-developed School Reopening Plan to keep our students as safe as we can.”

All students and staff will undergo daily screening to enter the building, and traffic flow is all one-directional throughout the school. Each grade will learn in as few rooms as possible, with staff moving between rooms rather than students.

“We also added ten minutes between classes to allow for safe movement between classes, as well as a mental wellness break for our students,” said Bedal. “We are fortunate to have such an expansive outdoor space for students to get outdoors, even for a brief time.”

Chapels and community building events will continue as well. Chapel coordinator Chani Wiens, who facilitated fully online chapels during the school shut down, is excited to interact with the students on campus.

“Although we will be wearing masks and maintaining our two metre distance, there is a lot we can do to be a community,” shared Wiens. To Wiens and the staff at UMEI, it’s building these community relationships that make their environment so conducive to whole person education.

“Every student has their phone on them at all times,” said Wiens. “They have all the information they need – they don’t need me for that. What they need me for is interpretation and context, and for helping them discover how they can combine their gifts with their learning to grow into people that serve their communities – through whatever work they do.”

There are still limited spots available for September 2020, whether it be full time tuition or per-course registration. Online learning is also available for all students, and teachers are prepared to transition online in the event of changing conditions. Call 326-7448 or visit umei.ca for more details.