1st day jitters in the air as thousands head back to class for 2023-24 Manitoba school year
'Change isn't always easy, but we're heading into something really exciting,' says Sister MacNamara teacher
The familiar fall mix of glee and anxiety is in the air as students across Manitoba head back to class on Wednesday to begin the 2023-24 school year.
At Winnipeg's Sister MacNamara School, Grade 1 teacher Vern Klassen-Wiebe knows how the day will likely go: things tend to start out with a bang in the morning, and then the energy of the morning dissipates. Some kids hit an energetic wall, he said.
"There's excitement, nervousness — it's all new. They aren't used to being here the whole day," said Klassen-Wiebe, an educator for 15 years — half of that time spent at the inner-city school on Balmoral Street and Sargent Avenue.
"I am ready to go. I have some jitters, but that's normal."
Thousands of Manitoba students returned to familiar territory — the same school, the same school friends, new school threads, backpacks loaded with the same mix of school supplies and lunches.
Many more, including newcomers, foray into a new school, or an entirely foreign learning or social environment.
"That's really exciting to welcome them, and making sure that all their needs are being met here at our school and for them to experience Canada," said Debbie Lenhardt Mair, principal of Sister MacNamara for the past decade.
For school supplies, families put up $30 per student, but "even that can be a real challenge for some of our families," Lenhardt Mair said.
WATCH | Students at Winnipeg's Sister MacNamara School head back to class:
As a result, the school relies on donations through relationships with community organizations, one of which has donated 80 backpacks filled with school supplies.
"No child today will feel like, 'Oh gee, I don't have the supplies. We make sure that everybody has what they need," said Lenhardt Mair.
'I can't wait to get started': teacher
She started in education in 1988 and has been in administration for the past two decades. Despite all that time, jitters persist.
"No matter how often it is you wake up for that first day of school, it's so exciting. It's kind of hard to sleep at night the night before, but we're really excited to welcome back the children."
Lenhardt Mair said she's particularly excited about the school's new playground, which was completed over the summer and will be used for outdoor learning this fall.
Grade 4 teacher Leah Pagé hopes to use it for land-based teachings.
"I can't wait to get out there," said Pagé. "I want education to be something that I do with them, not something that I do to them."
Pagé is starting her third full school year at Sister MacNamara, after years at two other inner-city schools.
"We work in a community that experiences many challenges, and it's really interesting to see kids just continue to plug away, put a smile on their face and just overcome challenges," she said.
Kids in her classrooms learn a typical combination of subjects, including "recognizing that Indigenous history, Indigenous presence and Indigenous future is a huge part of us living in Manitoba and living on what is here Treaty 1 land," said Pagé.
She said the beginning of the school year is all about acclimating students to routines and making them feel welcome.
"Change isn't always easy, but we're heading into something really exciting," said Pagé. "I can't wait to get started."
Typical challenges that crop up early on involve kids figuring out how to play nice, figuratively and literally, according to Klassen-Wiebe.
"They have to get used to working with 20 or 30 other kids in the classroom and … they can't just do things that they want to do," he said.
"All of a sudden now they have a whole bunch of peers, and so there's a lot of that relationship and personal dynamics between children."
A favourite part of the beginning of the year is the familiar faces calling out "Mr. K!" he said.
One of Lenhardt Mair's favourite things also boils down to the warmth in reconnection.
"The kids coming to give you a hug in the morning and saying, 'Oh I really missed you,'" she said.
More from CBC Manitoba:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Meaghan Ketcheson