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School’s out for the summer

Kids in Thunder Bay celebrate the last day of school and the start of summer vacation.

THUNDER BAY – No more pencils and no more books. School’s out for summer at both the public and catholic schools in the city.

Children in grades K-12 are shaking off the regular routine and embracing sleeping in, going to the splashpad, and playing video games.

Kingsway Public School student Elliot said he had an exciting year in grade three. His favourite subject was art.

“It's because you get to draw and just like have some free time drawing whatever your mind creates,” Elliot said.

He told Newswatch in an interview that he is looking forward to seeing his cousins in Winnipeg.

Twin sisters, Cameron and Paige, are prepared to take their yearly trip to Toronto this summer. This trip will be extra special because a family friend is moving there, and this will be “the only times that we see her.”

Aside from their yearly trip, they are looking forward to “sleeping in really late” and going to the water park.

Over on the north side of the city, St. Bernard Elementary School student Avery Williamson said she is “excited and nervous” on the last day of school.

“I feel excited and nervous because next year I'm not gonna be at the same school, and I'm really excited because like summer break's coming up and it's really fun because you get to hang out with your friends more,” Williamson said.

Samantha Baoga said she is sad because he is going to miss her teacher and friends.

Both students will be going to Bishop Gallagher Senior Catholic Elementary School in the fall.

“I'm excited for next year because it's a new school, new opportunities, and I'm excited to meet new friends because you can always learn something new,” Williamson said.

“I'm also excited to meet some new friends at Bishop Gallagher because they might be really nice, and it's nice to just meet new people,” Baoga said.

During the summer, Williamson said she will be going camping, hanging out with friends, and playing sports.

Baoga said she will be spending time with her family, swimming, and biking.

After 30 years of teaching, kindergarten teacher Claudia Lenardon is officially retired as of Friday.

“I've been with this Catholic school board and kindergarten I've been in since about almost 15 years since the full-time came in, but I've done one for a very long time. I've done grades two and three, ESL with the board and success by seven. I've enjoyed every bit of every moment I've been here. I’m very passionate about what I do, and I hope through all my costumes and things, just like Ms. Frizzle and the magic school bus and Mr. Dress up, I've enjoyed my time here very much, and I'm going to miss everyone, Lenardon said.

She said she has mixed feelings about leaving the school.

“There's a lot of emotion. I don't think it's gonna quite hit me until the first day when the children come back in September, and I'm not really setting up a classroom or coming in to get things ready. I think that will be the time when it'll be like ‘oh I'm actually not going back.’ I think it's very surreal now, and when you've been a teacher this long, you're just used to being here, and it's just lovely.

Kingsway Principal Emmanuel Iorianni said the school had a great year.

“We had run many sports activities and lots of music activities, and initiatives from students and staff. We try to include everyone in all our decisions. We feel we had a very successful school year,” Emmanuel Iorianni said.

“We also implemented quite a few new learning strategies and teaching strategies. We completed some language screeners and reading screeners that really informed our decisions and gave us lots of data to use to help out student engagement and student learning throughout the year. We felt that as a group, as Kingsway School and as public school staff, we really came together and had a strong year.

- With files from Alicia Anderson



Clint  Fleury,  Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

About the Author: Clint Fleury, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Clint Fleury is a web reporter covering Northwestern Ontario and the Superior North regions.
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