by Milan Streit

SCHOOL STAFF VACCINATIONS

Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) has announced that teachers and assistants under its first responder's immunization program are now eligible for a coronavirus vaccine.

This has been a long-standing wish from the B.C. Teachers Federation, along with the general public. School staff will be ‘invited’ to a vaccination clinic over the next few weeks, school-by-school, until the immunization process is complete. Clinics will be held after school and on weekends.

Interestingly, according to VCH, even when all staff are vaccinated, the same coronavirus protocols will be in place. However, this may change once updated science comes out.

When it comes to students getting the vaccine, currently some with underlying conditions have been vaccinated along with Indigenous students over 18, but it’s not likely for the rest of the secondary student population until everyone else in the general population is vaccinated.

A COVID-19 runse/gargle test is now available.

GARGLE/RINSE COVID TESTS AVAILABLE

BC Children’s Hospital and VCH are making COVID-19 Mouth Rinse/Gargle test kits available for students. These are for anyone who feels sick during the school day at KG. This follows a successful pilot project at ten schools in Vancouver.

How it works is if a student has corona virus symptoms during the school day, families will be contacted to pick their child up as soon as possible. A kit will be voluntarily offered to the parent to take home when the child is picked up. You don’t have to take the kit if you do not want to.

The sample can be dropped off at any LifeLabs location or at BC Children’s Hospital for processing. Results from these tests will done the same as at COVID-19 test centres.

SCHEDULE CHANGE

This school year, the schedule has been a mixed bag for many of us. Some like how you only must focus on two classes, while others miss classes being one hour each. Well, the change for next year may unite both sides.

It will follow the “semester system” with four classes for half of the year and then another four for the rest.

As of April 27, we have had an increase in the amount of in-person learning at King George after having some of the fewest hours in the province.

Here’s an example of the new schedule according to an email from our vice-principal, Paul Godfrey:

Period 2-3 – English (face to face); Student would attend this class five days per week for 105 minutes in cohort A or B, depending on their schedule.
Period 2-4 – PE (previously remote); Student would attend their class in-person two days per week for 60 minutes in either Flex A or B, depending on their schedule, every Monday and Wednesday. They would then have one more Interactive Learning Opportunity (ILO) that could be online or face-to-face. The teacher will communicate to the student when this ILO takes place.

For the most part, remote learning is no longer available.

GYM MAKEOVER UPDATE

King George students have voted to use a $10,000 grant from the ‘WE Choose Chris Fratwell-Katherine Gibbons Memorial Fund’ to help renovate our aging gym. The decision was the result of a West End “participatory budgeting” program allocating permit parking fees.

Along with that money, funds from an ongoing direct appeal to parents and the community have gone into replacing the circa 1980’s rusty weight set which we showed you in a previous edition of “The Dragon’s Pen”.

Jess Coomes (left) and Jim Bradbury are updating the KG Archives. (Hanif Karmal Photo)i — Jess Coomes (left) and Jim Bradbury are updating the KG Archives. *(Hanif Karmal Photo)i*

ARCHIVES DOOR FINALLY OPEN (A BIT)

When former school staffer Jess Coomes opened the door to the archives recently, he said it smelled “dustier than usual.” It's been closed for over a year now due to the pandemic and his retirement.

He returned, along with fellow archivist Jim Bradbury, to help restart organizing KG’s history in the room. So far, they have added a display case and reorganized areas. The eventual goal is to display everything in a neat manner and also build Jess an office inside the archives.

In other worlds, the KG Archives Room is being modernized and so is Jess with a brand new smartphone. This after his trusty flip phone, which has survived almost a daily course of throwing to impress Grade 8s, finally broke.