ESTEVAN — St. Mary's School was filled with excitement a day before classes started as they hosted their annual Back to School BBQ on Aug. 31.
Most families whose kids are enrolled with the school joined the staff that day. Children were thrilled to see friends, get to know teachers and check out the classrooms, and accompanying parents and siblings would visit with each other, too.
Guests were treated to some snacks, could drop off students' backpacks and chat with the staff.
Principal Ryan Jutras said that almost every student they have was in for the Wednesday barbecue. People started showing up 45 minutes before the event started, and the staff was happy to see families they'd known from before and the new ones joining the school.
Jutras added that he felt good ahead of the new year.
"We've had about five days now here with staff, and everyone seems to be pretty excited. I think there's a little bit of anxiousness, a little nervousness, but having this Back to School BBQ and everyone come in here, and seeing all the kids and all the families and seeing how happy they are, it made a lot of our staff pretty excited to be back," Jutras said.
The school is pretty stable for the number of kids they've had on average over the past five years, and just a bit lower in kindergarten. Some families moved out of Estevan, but several moved into the community and chose St. Mary's for their kids.
"We are pretty happy to see our numbers steady," Jutras said.
This year with an influx of Ukrainian families in the community, the school was able to arrange for some language help for the kids who are new to Estevan and are not fluent in English.
"We've done some creative timetabling, and we do have a Ukrainian-fluid staff member, so we've been able to give her a little bit of time to go support some of our Ukrainian families as they settle, because it's important for us for them to feel comfortable in the school. And what better way than to have someone who understands them, their culture, what they are going through and can communicate with them," Jutras explained.
The Back to School BBQ is St. Mary's annual tradition. They had to skip one due to COVID-19 and adjust the next one to follow the health regulations, but it made it just more exciting to be back in their usual friendly and open format.
"This is the first year back to normal. Everybody's in, and our school community council is in charge of the hot dogs and all the food and they're more than happy to serve," Jutras said.
Fiona Prabhu, who is going into Grade 4, enjoyed the barbecue with her family. She said she got to see her classroom and was really excited for the new year to begin to do what she likes the most.
"I like art, I like panting," said Fiona adding that she hopes to make a lot of friends this year.
Her brother Shaun Prabhu, who is going into Grade 2, said he is most interested in robots and hopes there will be something related to them during the school year.
Presley Brasseur, who is going into Grade 3, was really happy to be back at school, as her best friend and all her other friends were there. Even though her summer was a lot of fun, she said it was good to start school again.
"We set up our pool and my mom had a wedding this summer," Presley said. "But I missed seeing all my friends and learning new things."
She added she really likes learning French and hopes to continue with it this year.
Lucy Bucsis, who is going into kindergarten, stopped at the school with her mom Jennifer. She attended St. Mary's School for her pre-K program, but some things still seemed new to her. Lucy said she was excited to be at the barbeque and see all the kids around. She got to meet her teacher and was looking forward to doing more of her favourite things like running, painting, playing baseball and maybe even swimming. She also said she will have some friends study with her.
"We're looking forward to the new school year. I'm excited to be back and have everyone here. And I think everyone wishes summer was longer, but I think kids almost forget that once they get in the building," Jutras said.
The 2022-23 school year started in Saskatchewan schools on Sept. 1.
