Sacred Heart staff wave hello to students with South Hill parade
Students and staff in Saskatchewan have been working from home for over a month now, and the staff at Sacred Heart Community School felt like it was time to reunite, even from a distance, using Moose Jaw’s new favourite trend: a parade. The entire staff from Sacred Heart, including teachers and support staff, gathered at Sacred Heart on April 22 to embark on their first-ever staff parade — with no less than a police escort to take the lead, plenty of excitement, and a school bus to bring up the rear.
The parade route meandered all over South Hill, with each staff member in their own vehicle waving to students and families who were present.
Sacred Heart families were notified of the parade route beforehand, and all of the teachers encouraged their students to step outside onto their porches or into their yards to wave hello to the line of vehicles as it made its way by.
“We’re doing this just to connect with the kids, see their faces, and try to have some kind of connection through all of this,” said principal Rita Giroux. Students from outside of South Hill drove up to sit on the parade route and take part, and some students even made signs for their teachers.
The event was put together by a group of Sacred Heart teachers, as they found they were missing the connection of physically being in the classroom with their students. “Being away from them has been really hard and we hear that they miss us,” said teacher Kaelyn Turberfield, as fellow organizers Deanna Gallipeau, Kailey Anuik, and Krista Fisher agreed. “[So this is] our way of making them feel loved and like they’re not forgotten, and a reminder that just because they’re not necessarily within the building of Sacred Heart that those bonds we’ve created throughout the year can’t be broken.”
They thought the no-contact parade idea would be a great way to re-connect with their students and with each other, as social distancing measures have really changed the way they work as educators. It was also a great chance for the staff to see each other again as well, said Giroux, since everyone has been working from home.
“We miss each other and we miss the kids,” said Giroux. “So as much as this is for the kids, it’s for us too.”
The group is now hard at work with more fun, no-contact ideas to share with their students in the future, especially after the excitement the parade stirred up.
“I think this is probably the start of multiple creative attempts to reach out and remind our kids of that relationship as we go on,” said Turberfield.
Sacred Heart staff are hoping to plan a few more events like this one before June and to hopefully finish off the school year with something exciting despite being out of the classroom for the time being.