by Julia M. Langlois
Students have been noticing the effects of the present labour dispute in Ontario. Class field trips, clubs and after school activities are all being negatively impacted as a result of the dispute. At Almonte and District High School, students are trying to make the best of the situation.
As for sports, many of the teams are not running this year. Lauren Horton, a grade twelve student stated “Sports are gone. I wanted to do curling in my senior year but now I can’t.” It is especially inconvenient for senior students to have to deal with the consequences of the labour dispute in their final year. As seniors are trying to make the most of their final semester, they face limitations in what they can do.
With exams coming up the students are already stressed. Haley Langstaff, a senior student, said that “It’s frustrating because we can’t go on field trips and it’s stressful to have talks of a political protest right before exams.” Programs are still provided to help out during the stressful time. The Link Crew class is planning to have tutoring sessions for grade nines to help them with their first set of exams. The homework club at ADHS is also still running.
Student based clubs remain active as well. It is unfortunate that teachers can’t be as involved as they were; however, students have taken the opportunity to support some of the clubs they love by continuing them through this time. These include trivia clubs and interest based clubs.
Despite the challenges the students are facing with the complications of the labour dispute, they are taking the opportunity to help other students deal with the situation.