In coping with challenges brought forth by the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers and students are turning to art as a means of expression, hope and renewal.

In May of 1968 student protesters in Paris put up signs that read, “Be realistic — demand the impossible.” Other signs read, “Life, quickly.” Meanwhile in the United States young people rose up in disgust over their government’s conduct of the Vietnam War and Canadian universities began filling up with American draft dodgers.

The story is told that Albert Einstein met with his graduate students in Physics at Princeton University to provide them with their final examination. After distributing the exam, he walked out. His teaching assistant walked out with him.

When Grade 11 English students in Durham Catholic high schools receive their reading assignments this year, the works of Shakespeare and other conventional texts will be replaced with ones focusing on Indigenous voices.

Uncertainty surrounding varsity sports in light of the global pandemic has 17-year-old softball player Rachelle Zilavec admittedly anxious but optimistic as she weighs the prospects of even starting her freshman season this year.

For 24 years Antonio Gambale’s classroom has been a place where all have been welcomed and accepted, and for that, the Niagara Region teacher has been recognized with the Rick Hansen Foundation’s Difference Maker Award.

REGINA, SASK. -- Celebrations to mark this year’s centennial of Athol Murray College of Notre Dame at Wilcox, Sask., had to be cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. But the pioneering spirit of the charismatic priest from Toronto who willed the college into being continues to resonate.

The eagerness that normally greets the opening of a new school year won’t be found this year. Instead of excitement, new friends, greeting old friends and the anticipation of what will come, these emotions have been replaced by anxiety, fear and concern for our children and grandchildren’s future health. 

While physical distancing has left people feeling isolated, outreach initiatives by the Kenora Catholic District School Board are fostering hope by helping students and families realize they are not alone.

Thirty-five years ago, in July 1985, Catholic education in Ontario took a major step forward when Bill 30 was passed by the Ontario Legislature, granting full public funding to Catholic schools through Grade 13. The battle for equal funding with the public boards was a long one, finally won when Premier Bill Davis, who had rejected the idea in 1971, announced the change in policy in June 1984. Here’s The Catholic Register’s report from its June 23, 1984 edition: