It seems students in Niverville will begin a one-week period of remote learning in late February of 2022 whether or not COVID-19 remains a significant concern.

The Manitoba Winter Games have been scheduled for February 27 to March 5 and will be using all three Niverville schools as well as the brand new Community Resource and Recreation Centre for lodging and gameplay.

Kevin Heide is the Secretary-Treasurer for the Hanover School Division and their representative on the Manitoba Winter Games Executive Committee.Kevin Heide represents the school division on the Winter Games Executive Committee. He says HSD’s participation in the coming games will be similar to their role in the Manitoba Summer Games back in 2016. Like they did five years ago, the division will host the games in their array of buildings and provide bus transportation between venues to officials and athletes. There is, however, one primary difference between the two season-specific sporting events.

“This will be more difficult for us than the summer games because it is during the school year so we have to do classroom cleanup, prep, and those kinds of things which all take time and effort,” Heide remarks.

When discussion on the matter first began, HSD considered changing Spring Break to align with the Winter Games as the move would free up schools, allowing the learning spaces to be transformed into temporary living accommodations. After further conversation, they narrowed their plans: Spring Break would change only in Niverville but would remain the same as usual in all other schools. Heide admits neither of those options were ideal. Then, the pandemic presented a third solution.

“As we have learned through the pandemic, remote learning has become a viable option for teaching,” explains Heide. "The school board has chosen to maintain spring break for all Hanover schools as originally scheduled from March 28- April 1st in 2022."

For obvious reasons, Heide says the infrastructure for learning from home was not in place prior to COVID-19 and so the possibility was not considered when dialogue on the Winter Games began.

“Before the pandemic, we hadn’t really dealt in or dabbled in remote learning but we have learned a lot in the last year,” he comments. “So, for the course of a week, we feel it is a reasonable option and it best fits the need of our staff and our students.”

Though admittedly a complication. Heide believes the games will be advantageous to the community and is glad HSD can take such an active role.

“For the benefit of students in Niverville, and throughout Manitoba really, the division is willing to put in that effort.”