Hays School buzzing with activity

By Cole Parkinson
Vauxhall Advance
cparkinson@tabertimes.com

With the 2018/19 school season officially beginning on September 4 for Horizon School Division schools, many facilities are now in the swing of things for fall.

Hays School has seen their students return after summer break where the school saw a few repairs and renovations done.

With the south side windows being upgraded last summer, this summer saw the completion of the rest of the school.

“Things are going well. We had renovations done to our school and our renovations went wonderfully. We have new windows on the north end and we got new book shelves in every classroom. So it was a pretty exciting summer,” said Hays principal Tracey Nadeau. “We have a lot of dust but our janitor Keith Tucker got us going and got it all cleaned up.”

The vast majority of the students who roamed Hays School halls last year have also returned for the school season. While they are down a few kids, for the most part enrollment numbers are inline with past years.

Joining students in the halls are staff and administration which Nadeau reports numbers are right around the same as last year.

Much like the 2017 school season, students are seeing one new face in the classroom this year.

“We have one new teacher, Douglas Kenney, and he is a new teacher to our Grade 2/3 class,” stated Nadeau. “The majority of the staff remains the same, though we are losing our secretary, Vauxhall High got her. They just had someone retire so I am hiring. We rely on our secretaries a lot so I couldn’t do it without one.” 

While students get adjusted back to classroom life, they will also have the opportunity to join a few new courses available.

One course, though not new to Hays School, is back available to students who have a fondness for working with their hands.

“We are developing some options that are different. We have woodworking, we had woodworking before, but not in the past few years. We’re going to Vauxhall High and sharing some space with them for woodworking,” said Nadeau, who also stated the class would be available for Grade 7-9 students.

Hays School will also a yearbook class available for those interested in putting together the pages that help close out the school year.

“We have a year book prep class which I’m running as an option. I only have three people right now but that’s OK because three people can do a yearbook,” continued Nadeau.

For parents looking to connect with teachers at Hays School, the staff is hosting a meet the teacher barbecue tonight at the school from 6-7 p.m.

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