Saint Paul staff come together to congratulate graduating students
Staff from Saint Paul High School in Niagara Falls hand delivered graduating students their gowns and caps, as well as gift bags as a way to say congratulations Monday.
About 20 staff picked up 185 gifts at different times of the day from the home of teacher Sylvia Berezowski and delivered them to the homes of graduating students.
“We just thought it would be great to let the kids from Saint Paul that are graduating know that we’re thinking of them, and that we wanted to make them feel like this was a celebration,” said Berezowski.
“In this time (of COVID-19), we still have to celebrate their achievements.”
She said the gift bags included graduation outfits, a T-shirt from the Saint Paul family, a couple of gift tokens from student council and a card.
Berezowski said it’s unclear if there will be a formal graduation celebration this year. She said a tentative date has been booked for Oct. 9, but whether the event happens will depend on how long the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
She said being a “people person,” she misses being in front of a classroom.
“For the most part, my kids have been wonderful — they’ve connected, they’ve stayed on top of their stuff, but it’s hard, it’s really hard for these kids to stay engaged in something that’s online, it’s not personal,” said Berezowski.
“It’s been a learning curve for a lot of them. We’re doing more remotely and, of course, through technology than we ever have, so we’ve all learned a bit.
“Moving forward, I know that the grads that are going to university are going to have to learn how to do that at an even higher rate, so it’s been a good kind of walk-through for them.”
Graduating student council president Julia Savoie said the graduands are “appreciative” of staff wanting to do something special for them during a difficult time.
“Saint Paul would not have been the same without them,” said the Niagara Falls resident.
“We’re so happy that they took the time to do this for us.”
Savoie said at the beginning, not being able to go to school because of COVID-19 was “really sad,” especially not being able to say a proper goodbye to all the staff.
“But the teachers have been really great with online studies and Zoom calls and doing whatever they can to help us out, so in the end, it’s better than I thought it would be.”
She said she looks forward to “hopefully” celebrating a formal graduation in October.
As for her post-secondary future, Savoie said she’s going to University of Guelph for human kinetics.
“I will be staying there next year, not in residence, but in my own house and doing my online studies from there.”
“We’re so happy that they took the time to do this for us.”
JULIA SAVOIE ST. PAUL CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT