{"id":29965,"date":"2021-09-16T19:27:36","date_gmt":"2021-09-16T23:27:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=29965"},"modified":"2021-09-23T18:01:16","modified_gmt":"2021-09-23T22:01:16","slug":"in-person-learners-welcomed-back-for-2021-2022-school-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/in-person-learners-welcomed-back-for-2021-2022-school-year\/","title":{"rendered":"In-person learners welcomed back for 2021-2022 school year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It was a busy Wednesday afternoon as parents collected their kids from St. Jerome Catholic School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cars lined Hollandview Trail until the bell rang \u2013 mothers, fathers and guardians all waiting for the verdict from their youngsters on the first day back at school since classes were forced to shutter due to the global pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was strange \u2013 I had to wear a mask, but I actually got to see my friends,\u201d said Ethan Ahle, a Grade 6 student, on what it was like to settle back into the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mom Trish said they were both looking forward to a return to in-class learning after a long time of learning at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were looking forward to him getting him back to a regular routine,\u201d said Trish. \u201cWe have an older child as well in high school and it was rough on them not to be around their friends. We were looking forward to getting back to school and to some normalcy again, so we are pretty excited.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a work-from-home mom, Trish joked that one of the benefits of a return to in-class learning was not having the kids at home all day long, but it was more about the social interaction \u2013 as long as doors remain open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just going day by day, to be honest with you,\u201d she said. \u201cIf they tell us we\u2019re off again, we\u2019re off again, and we\u2019ll do what we need to do. It\u2019s just part of our lives right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharing this sentiment was parent Bill, whose son Aaron just started Grade 5 at St. Jerome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aaron took the first day in his stride, saying it felt basically the same to the previous in-class experience, but for Bill it was a return to some much-needed instruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor my youngest child at this school, being in class is very important to him,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019s not able to learn properly while on remote learning and the concentration level just isn\u2019t there. My eldest son, who is in high school, can learn from home, but we sent him back [to St. Max] because he needs interaction with other kids.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the lead-up to getting his kids back into the classroom mindset, Bill said it was a matter of making sure the students knew what was expected of them from a social distancing and health standpoint, and \u201cjust being aware of following through on everything we have had them do for the last year-and-a-half.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But while Aaron gave his first day back a resounding thumbs-up, there were some challenges for Bill on the horizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy oldest son came home [from high school] and said he didn\u2019t feel safe, that there were far too many kids in his class with no social distancing and that he walked into something that he wasn\u2019t expecting to walk into,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to listen to how he feels,\u201d he added, when asked if this feedback may have prompted a re-think on the merits of in-class vs. remote learning. \u201cWe don\u2019t know whether or not it is just an anxiety thing in terms of not being in that situation for two years, whether it is legit and if he still has the same feelings in two weeks. We might have to adjust our thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong>
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/em><\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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