It is going on 4 weeks since the end of Spring Break and 6 weeks since I have last seen my students and many of my colleagues! Today, many of us participated in a school parade with our vehicles – complete with school buses – decorated with signs and balloons!
So many balloons and all kinds of signs! We miss you! Stay safe! Part of the Pack!
Even a mascot soaking up the rays!
This is why I love what I do and feel so blessed to be a teacher in Sparwood! We drove all through town hitting all of the main roads before venturing to the Mountain View Trailer Park, Sparwood Heights, the Lower Elk Valley Road, Spardell, and Michel Creek Road! We had a real tour of Sparwood that took almost an hour and a half. What a wonderful 90 minutes I had to enjoy all of the people I miss so much!
It was so amazing and heart-warming to see all of the kids and their families (even the people we haven’t met before) out on their lawns and sides of the street! Waving! Cheering! Saying Thank You! Holding signs of encouragement and thanks! One of my favourite signs said “My mom sucks at teaching!” There was more at the bottom but I didn’t read that far. I had to stop and let them know that my kids’ mom sucks at teaching them too! HAHA!!
I feel so fortunate that I was able to see 18 out of 19 of my kiddos! I am so grateful to their families for bringing them out to be a part of this parade and to those that shared photos of their children/families with me during the parade! It was very emotional for so many of us! Kids and parents too I’m sure! There was definitely more than one occasion along the route where I was grateful to be wearing sunglasses and that I was the only one in the vehicle so I didn’t have to worry about hiding the tears! Truthfully though, I don’t feel the need to hide those tears. I am happy to let the kids know that I am sad too and that I wish we were back in school with them. But we all know that what we are doing is part of a bigger picture to keep everyone safe and healthy!
So for now, my heart remains full and I hope that if we are still doing this learning from a distance a month from now, we can do this parade again! Thank you to my amazing colleagues that help make this easier and to my amazing students and their families for participating in the at home learning opportunities I provide and for connecting with me weekly through Zoom. Technology has sure helped us to stay connected at this time. We know this won’t be forever but for now, we will do our best to be kind to each other and ourselves as we navigate this strange world we live in right now! As Dr. Bonnie Henry says “Stay Calm. Stay Safe. Stay Home.” We are stronger together!
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Be Happy! 
That is sooooo awesome!
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