The Alberta Teachers’ Association

Excitement reigned at schools across Alberta as students and teachers met friends and colleagues—old and new—on the first day of school, September 1.

At Queen Elizabeth High School, in Edmonton, students who are newcomers to Canada had a special preorientation August 26 and 27 sponsored by the Edmonton Immigrant Services Association. For the first time at an Edmonton school, some of those first-day jitters for new ESL students were eased by the opportunity to meet student peer leaders before the actual first day of school. 

“What’s different about this orientation is that the new students were able to communicate with someone in their own language,” explained teacher Tiffany Choi, who coordinated the school’s orientation for newcomers. “During last week’s orientation, the students put together scenarios about what they might face on their first day of school. The peer leaders provided them with possible solutions to problems that could arise. For example, they learned how to use combination locks and how to register for extracurricular activities.”