THUNDER BAY - For students with special needs, being outside of the classroom can present many challenges, especially being away from teachers and support staff who are like another family.
But on Friday special needs teachers and support workers at Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute reached out to their students with a parade to share words of encouragement.
“I am really excited,” said Grade 12 student Mitchell Seguin.“Off the roof.”
The parade was organized by special needs teacher Dave Workman and saw 17 staff joined by their family members in cars parading past 25 homes of students with special needs.
“Being part of the special needs class is like being part of a family,” Workman said. “It’s a very family orientated environment and this extended break or learning from home has really put a cramp in our ability to communicate and be connected.”
Workman said the extended school closures are especially hard on students with special needs because they rely so much on a structured environment with the people they know and trust.
“The best day of school for a special needs student is the first day of school in September,” Workman said. “It’s because we are their people. They connect with their peers, the staff, they have a routine, they are busy. So learning from home doesn’t have the same effect.”
Publicly funded schools in Ontario have been closed since March 14 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure will continue beyond May 4.
While teachers and staff are still able to interact with students online via video chat and by phone, Workman said it is still hard on teachers and staff not being able to see their students in person.
Workman said seeing the smiles and waves is uplifting for everyone, even if it’s just a quick drive by to let the students know staff are thinking of them.
“Respecting social distancing, we thought we would do a parade and lay eyes on the students and lift some spirits,” he said. “Some of the students come to us when they are 13 and don’t leave until they are 21. That’s a wide range of time. They become part of your family. It’s just like not seeing your kids for a month, which is tough on us too. So this kind of a shot in the arm we all needed and the students needed as well.”
“I miss them really a lot,” Mitchell said. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen my friends.”
Mitchell’s mother, Lori Seguin, said the school closure has been a struggle for students with special needs.
“A lot of them are hands-on and have to be out in the public,” she said. “We are coping here. It’s a big struggle but because of these amazing teachers and SSPs, they are making it easier that’s for sure.”
This is Mitchell’s last year in high school and Seguin said the teachers have gone above and beyond to assist with online learning and finding ways for students to interact with one another and staff.
“They put their students needs over their own,” she said. “The minute we saw there was going to be an interruption, they were literally 24-hours texting us parents saying they wanted to start an online program.”
That kind of dedication and seeing the teachers and staff driving past, honking horns, holding signs, and shouting out to the students about how much they miss them, brings tears to Seguin’s eyes.
“They are remarkable. That’s all I can say,” she said. “These people love these children as much as we do. To know that every single day and every single night, there are times I get texts at 10 o’clock at night, saying: how about this for the next day. Honestly in my opinion, these people are used as models to be angels.”
“I would like to thank everybody. We know it’s very hard. It’s very hard for myself,” Seguin added. “I appreciate everybody. This is hard. Stay strong. We got this.”