'It's a new start': Manitoba teachers welcome students to 1st near-normal school year since 2020

A bundle of emotions is mixing with the cool fall air as Manitoba students head back to school some attending classes with others for the very first time.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced a very different look on education in the province over the past two years fromremote learningto hybrid models and cohorts and distancing, to a slow return with no extra-curricular activities, no lockers and limited movementin hallways.

Wednesday marked the first time since March 2020 that a school yearlooked almost normal.

"I'm so excited for them.I can't wait for them just to experience sitting at a table with three other people and just sharing their lives and their learning together," said Amber Lewicki, who teaches Grade 3atLord Nelson elementary school in Winnipeg.

Principal Melissa Asmundsonalso used the word "excitement" but added "nerves" as well.

"This is a newyear, it's a new start. Teachers feel that, even though we're adults," she said.

The nerves are primarily for those young students making a big leap in their lives. Some have missed those beginning years nursery and kindergartenwhere they learn to socialize and get comfortable with each other, and are entering school in Grade 1 for the first time.

"With two years of not having that the system of doing school and knowing how to come in even something as simple as lining up [will be new]," Asmundson said.

It could be an intimidating start for them,"so we have them on our radar," she said."Our guidance counsellor knows who these little kiddos are, so we're just going to watch out for them."

The studentsLewickiwill be teaching would have been halfway through kindergarten when the pandemic startedand their school year ended.

"I just am so excited for everyone to come back to a classroom and a school that will feel somewhat special because all of those weird things are now gone. I think it's going to be a huge, exciting year for everyone."

Robyn Lechow, a Grade 1 teacher at Faraday elementary school in Winnipeg, is elated to be in the same classroom as her students once again, and for them to interact with one another.

"I love the kids. I loved being around them and I'm excited the restrictions are lifted, too, because you can get more done," she said.

WATCH | Manitoba students return to the classroom:

Manitoba teachers welcome students on first day

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A bundle of emotions is mixing with the cool fall air as Manitoba students head back to school some attending classes with others for the very first time.

"We can have more conversations with them, we can do a lot more of building their language together and having their time to play together. The kids just love being together and actually seeing their friends."

During the pandemic, there was more prep for teachers to deal with. For students, learning remotely meantthey couldn't feed off each other's ideas and get inspired by one another.

"They're much more engaged" back in the classroom,said Lechow.

Russell Antymis, who teaches grades 5 and 6 at Faraday,is happy about the full return of school clubs, such as the chess club and patrol club, "andbeing able to do that with multiple classrooms [involved]," he said. Even if clubs were active over the past couple of years, they involved only small cohorts of students, he said.

"It's going to be really nice to get the feel of a regular school year."

Things like havingstudents mix and mingle for learning purposes, holdingassemblies, and being able to welcome families back into the school environment for concerts and meetings with teachersare all part of whatmakes a strongneighbourhood, said Faraday principal Jennifer Cox.

"School's about building community and togetherness, and with the pandemic we had to remain separate for a really long time," she said. "Home and school, we want to connect them, and for the longest time we couldn't do that. It's been a challenge."

Some pandemic changes staying in place

At Lord Nelson, though it's no longer being required, the school will continue to restrict entrance and exit doors to certain cohorts of students. That was the staff's choice,Asmundson said.

"We found that kids were calmer coming in [last year through a designated access] rather than having everyone coming in at once big kids and little kidswhich made the start of the day easier. It made the school hum in a good way," she said.

"We found that it was, if you want to call it, one of the good things about COVID."

The school has also decided to continue with a staggered recesses and lunch breaks, keeping the youngest students together and then the older ones.

"We're going to see how that works and see if it brings less conflicts on the playground,"Asmundson said.

George Madrid had a little trouble sleeping Tuesday night because of the buzz of going back to school and then had trouble waking up but still found some enthusiasm about heading into Lord Nelson for his first day in Grade 6.

"This is my last year inthis school.I really need to get to learning again, since I kind of forgot about some stuff during summertime," he said.

Though it is no longer mandated by the Winnipeg School Division,George wore a mask because it's a responsible thing to do, said his dad, Ricardo.

"COVID is still there, right? We still need to protect ourselves, also for the other people," he said. "That's why we always wear masks."

While George is wrapping up his elementary school years, his sisterYsabellais headed to Grade 10, her firstat SislerHigh School.

"I have mixed feelings, like nervous and excited, because, you know high school. But it's OK.I feel fine," she said, working to convince herself.

She was much more certain about how she felt about classes returning to a conventional form.

"It's really nice because online learning is really a hassle for us. Having this opportunity to go back to school all normal again, there's no restrictions, is a nice feeling because you feel free," she said.

• BACK TO SCHOOL |Read more about the return to school across the country