Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER

After a challenging year, school is out for students across SD73

Jun 29, 2021 | 3:59 PM

KAMLOOPS — All across School District 73, staff and students celebrated the final day of the 2020-2021 school year. This past year has been one like no other, as we’ve faced down the global COVID-19 pandemic.

For this group of Grade 6 students, it could be the last time they’re all together like this. At AE Perry Elementary on Tuesday afternoon (June 29), their teachers and principal took that opportunity to recognize the students for their hard work.

For some of these students, this day was the culmination of their entire school careers. “Yeah, I went to kindergarten here,” Jagjot Atwal says. “It’s going be a little bit weird [going somewhere else].”

“I’m kind of sad because I’m going to miss this place,” Hayley Prince explains. “But I’m excited to start a new adventure.”

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For some students, like Alexis Patterson, their time at AE Perry was shorter. However, that year has been impactful.

“I’ve had my ups and downs this year,” Patterson says. “When that happened, lots of people were there to help me get through it.”

This year has been a challenge for almost everyone, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some parts of that have been difficult for parents and their kids.

“You can definitely tell that it wears them down a bit, right?” Nicola Mackey, one member of the AE Perry PAC explains. “‘No, we can’t do this because of COVID. Sorry, we can’t do that because of COVID.’ It’s trying. It’s a lot for a little person to comprehend.”

But for Paul Hayward, another PAC member at the school, he hopes there are some positives to be taken from the pandemic experience. “Generationally, they’ll probably have better hygiene as we did as kids,” Hayward suggests.

“We went from outside, playing in the dirt, straight to eating dinner. Now the focus is on making sure you’re clean at all times and being aware of what you’re touching and who you’re around. I think they’ll be very aware of that.”

While it’s been a year full of challenges for these students, it hasn’t dampened their optimism.

“Hopefully I have a good year at Brock,” Prince says.

“I’m thinking I want to make some new friends at Brock,” Atwal says.

Nor has it tarnished the memories they made at AE Perry. “In all, I’ve known these people for only a year,” Patterson says. “Some of them, I’m not going to see at Brock. They’ve been a big part of my life.”