A school year like no other comes to a close this week not with a bell but rather the sound of a computer shutting down.
Though this marked the second consecutive June that the vast majority of Ontario students closed out the second semester virtually, it’s fair to say the 2020-21 year will stand out as one-of-a-kind. And for that reason students, teachers and staff alike deserve a hearty congratulations as they head into a well-earned summer break.
Unlike the previous year when COVID-19 emerged towards the end of the school calendar, this time around it was present right from September through June. The end result may have been the same-students not returning following a spring break-but the road that got them there was far from similar. As it turns out, last year was just a small preview of what students and educators would have to deal with in the following 10 months.
First day of school jitters are normal, but mix in masks and cramped classrooms in the midst of a pandemic made for a particularly anxious September for a lot of students, parents and teachers. Vaccines were still months away from being made available to the public and much was still unknown as to how much the virus would spread in a school setting. Just as fears of the virus were starting to ease, cases started to spike towards the end of November and into the holiday break, so much so that there was talk that in-class learning would be suspended early in January.
Fortunately schools across Kingston Frontenac and Lennox and Addington saw extremely low transmission rates. Those low rates didn’t come without sacrifice however as sports and extracurricular activities were put on hold for this year. Academia is but one small aspect of school life. Along with subjects such as Math, English and History, students also learn life skills outside the classroom from interacting with their peers. Virtual learning meant no more recess or lunch break-or even socializing in class when the teacher wasn’t looking. All of which are just as valuable to a young mind’s development.
At the high school level, many Grade 12s missed out on their final year of athletics or other special interest groups. They had no way of knowing when they left the ice or field in 2020 as a Grade 11 that they had just played their final KASSAA game or performed their final act in a play.
Educators faced just as much uncertainty. Lesson plans had to be ready to be adapted to online learning with little to no notice. Trying to keep students engaged and interested while lecturing to a computer screen is no small task.
Yet somehow, someway, they got through it. Some 2 million students across the province put in the work, gutted through the challenges and will advance to the next grade come this autumn. And for that they should all be commended. It couldn’t have been easy. But if nothing else, these students learned conquer adversity unlike any other. For that they’ll be better people for it.
Adam Prudhomme