The 12 senior Kindergarten students from Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School (Elliot Lake) graduated on Wednesday, June 16 by way of virtual graduation on Zoom.
The graduates, their parents and junior kindergarten classmates joined in the celebration.
Christy Fosberg, vice-principal, began with a prayer and principal Andrew Chi said a few words to the graduates. The graduates were also acknowledged by their teacher Michelle Munroe and early childhood educator Jo-Anne Graham.
Each of the Senior Kindergarten students were virtually presented with diplomas and awards with Ana Gonzalez Fournier the recipient of the Excellent Artist award, Addy Gill the recipient of the Happy Attitude award, Caiden Moore-Commanda receiving the Most Improved award, Chase Puglisi the Excellence In Science award, Dakota Squires the recipient of the Class Comedian award, Jaxon Lalonde the Math Problem Solver award, Leahanna Moore the recipient of the Most Friendly award, Levi Richard the Excellent Thinker award, Makani Rittberg the recipient of the Excellence in Reading award, Natalia Lalande the Happy Attitude award, Samuel Medhabie the Best Listener award and Troy Couture was the recipient of the Happy Attitude award.
Students watched a slide show of photos taken throughout the year both in-school and virtually and the graduation ceremony ended with a celebration dance-along.
The last day of synchronous school will be on Friday, June 25. Students will be learning asynchronously on Monday, June 28 and Tuesday, June 29. They will be dropping off their computers and other items to the school and picking up their actual diplomas and awards as well as their report cards during a scheduled pick-up time and following Public Health COVID -19 protocols.
Teacher Munroe recalled the previous school year dealt with through pandemic protocols with the mix of in-class and virtual learning.
“This year started in September with stringent COVID health and safety measures in place. All cloth items such as carpeting, plush toys and cloth seating were removed from the classroom,” she said. “Kindergarten students wore masks in class and on their buses. Teachers wore masks and also began wearing face shields or goggles in January. Washroom breaks and outdoor playtime were scheduled for one class at a time so that classes did not mix together and students repeatedly disinfected their hands throughout each day. Students met the challenges with smiles on their faces and an eagerness to learn.
For the first week of January, students were introduced to virtual classrooms. Students returned back to in-school learning one week after the Christmas break was scheduled to end. They had to postpone their March Break. When the students finally had a break in April, they were not allowed to return back to school due to the provincial shutdown.
“In April, students' parents were given the choice to enroll their children in a virtual classroom or to exempt them from virtual school. Exempted students were provided with math and language workbooks and other materials to be able to work independently offline,” Munroe said. “Virtual learning included a variety of activities. At Our Lady of Fatima school, students met in ‘Google Meet’ in their ‘Google Classrooms’. The kindergarten class had an average of 8 to 12 students attending the Google Classroom each day. While online, students participated in scavenger hunts, escape room challenges and online games. They also completed math and language assignments, crafts and various activities offline. They were provided with links to virtual libraries and educational games.”
“It was a very different and challenging year,” she said. “Our senior kindergarten students have not had the opportunity of completing a full school year (from September to June) in their short school career. However, lots of learning happened and we look forward to the possibility of a ‘normal’ 2021-22 school year.”