First-year educators probably didn’t expect to face a pandemic when they started the 2020-21 school year, but they had to be just as flexible with all the changes as everyone else.
“It was definitely different than a normal year,” said Caitlyn Morgan, who taught grades 7 and 8 at Lindale School.
There were many changes that students and teachers had to adapt to almost every day, she continued with a chuckle. Some changes included not mixing class groups and ensuring students wore masks in the gym even though they initially didn’t have to.
While this year was Morgan’s first full-year teaching, she began working in January 2020. She noted that her first two months of in-person teaching went well before the pandemic caused everything to “fall off the rails.”
“I don’t know if it really changed my mindset because I’ve pretty much only taught in a pandemic, but it made me more adaptable in general,” she laughed. “Now I’m just ready to be on the fly all the time and I’m ready for things to change because that’s how this past year has been.”
Morgan thought her students did well during the year, with many in Grade 8 discussing how they overcame challenges and what they weren’t able to experience during their final year of elementary school. However, she attempted to hold as many fun activities as she could to keep them engaged.
While Morgan was excited about summer vacation, she also looked forward to September, when there would hopefully be fewer restrictions.
“But I think everyone needs a break big time from being cooped up in classrooms and not being able to leave,” she added. “Everyone just keeps telling me it’s going to get easier from here.”
New school administrators
The 2020-21 school year was Robin Heshka’s first year as a principal, as she took the leadership reigns at William Grayson School with support from first-year vice-principal Janice Colven. This was the 13th year that both had worked in the education field as teachers and administrators.
The past 10 months were amazing, busy, and challenging, Heshka said. It was also a fun year since everyone learned together throughout the pandemic, whether staff were bouncing ideas off each other about handling situations or students gave input about their preferences for library books or a dream playground.
Having a strong vision for the school and living it out was important to the first-year principal, so she and her staff created a vision statement that they placed in every room. This also made it easier for her to provide leadership since she could reflect on that statement.
The vision statement is, “Relationships matter; supporting innovative thinkers who are safe, successful, confident and respectful.”
An example of how the vision guided staff was when they were forced into online learning.
“My staff just jumped in two feet into the trenches for online learning, and they were doing things I never even thought was possible,” said Heshka. “So, I think if you have a good staff, it makes my job 10 times easier … . In a year like COVID, we needed that time collaboration and that teamwork.”
With a laugh, Heshka said that she never expected to be working in a pandemic but planned to use that experience as part of a presentation she will give in July about life as a first-year administrator.
One unexpected challenge Heshka faced was mountains of paperwork, something she hoped to never face in her job. Yet, if it ever became overwhelming, she could slip into a classroom to read to students or watch them complete a project.
What Heshka also appreciated about her new role — this was her first year in Prairie South School Division as an administrator — was having support from the division and being able to reach out to other administrators for help. She also appreciated the support from Colven and the bond they forged during their first year together.
“It’s so important to have someone you can trust and respect,” Heshka added.
It was a big transition moving into the role of vice-principal, while all the pandemic-related expectations and restrictions added to the learning curve, said Colven. She was excited for next year when — hopefully — she could see more of the students in person without masks and come to know them better.
“I’m so proud of the staff; they were excellent,” she added. “They were there every step of the way and were able to shape these young people … .”
