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LETTER: My students are showing remarkable engagement in this challenging year

Making this school year memorable for something other than COVID-19
John Prescott
Teacher John Prescott guides students Anna Tiernay, Arabella Repard-Denniston, Tommy Kischer and the rest of his Grade 12 English class at North Vancouver's St. Thomas Aquinas high school. photo STA

Three months into the school year and the evidence is surprising me.

I teach primarily Gr. 12 at St. Thomas Aquinas High School and the student engagement has been remarkable. Attendance is shockingly high and the students, for the most part, appear thrilled and engaged. I have to tip my hat to them.

Finding joy at school during COVID must be daunting. Gone, for the foreseeable future, are drama productions, sports, dances, music performances and much more. What a series of major disappointments for them.

Yet, they are showing up for class. Their future dreams are still alive, and they are prepared to do the necessary work. And of course, it’s great to see friends as well!

I am proud to be an educator on the North Shore. Collectively, our schools offer the very best in academic opportunities, brilliant fine and performing art productions, innovative academies, inspiring sports programs, integral social justice and environmental initiatives, and much more. And during these challenging COVID times, administrators and teachers alike are developing strategies to make it work.

And, yes, building a plane while it is in flight is difficult, but students from my vantage appear to be appreciating every effort towards making their school year memorable for something other than COVID.

John Prescott
North Vancouver