Alberta’s extension of its winter break all the way through to the 10th left some people- and minds- reeling. With the loss of approximately a week of school, the missing time meant that for many students, a lot of things were left unaccomplished by the end of the semester. In this article, I look at the extended winter break through selected lenses and perspectives of different students across Calgary.
“I really enjoyed winter break. I had enough of school for a bit, and I didn’t want to go the week of [January 4th] at all. What I did mind, however, was Alberta cancelling finals as a result of the extended break.”
“I found it really stupid that they extended the break to quote ‘assess and consider staffing and operational impacts’ allowing schools to plan for a ‘successful startup,’ but a lot of those operational impacts weren’t even that impactful. For example, the masks/rapid testing kit rollout was delayed by about a week; the school cancelled exams because of the extended break which was meant to prepare masks that didn’t come until school was basically over for exam break.”
“I hate being stuck at home, it’s pretty cold and lonely there. I was super bored at home too.”
- Brahm Wongwandanee, Edward Tao, and Georgia Zhang, IB students at Henry Wise Wood School.
“I thought the winter break extension was cool because I was sick during that time and I didn’t have to miss anything, which I guess was sort of the point of them cancelling that week. It was pretty great for me, and I had a lot of fun at home.”
- Damon Yee, student at Westmount Charter Mid-High School
With the winter break extension, some had fun at home, while others were cooped up and missing in-person. However, pretty much universally, students had trouble adapting to the idea that finals would be cancelled; many students were counting on finals for their final grade adjustment. Furthermore, most were not impressed by the way the government handled the mask/rapid testing kit distribution.
I understand people don’t like this period of isolation from their friends and stuff. But I really felt that we should’ve been online. I don’t like it, I’ve seen it affect me with my school grades and I definitely not in the best place mentally. But we go to school and half the students are missing and teacher’s aren’t even there to teach. I think it was important to make exams optional considering everything people went through to even finish the semester how they did. These situations aren’t easy for everyone. But the education and healthcare systems that build the basis for our society are struggling. I honestly think more should be done. There must be better ways to deal with this than send people to deal with the dangerous environments and be ‘optimistic’ about the situation.