Saskatoon teacher ready to get back in the classroom

The school year starts on Tuesday, but Saskatoon teachers have been preparing for weeks.

Kailey Gryba is starting her first year at Howard Coad School in Saskatoon. She moved over after 17 years of teaching first grade at Dr.John G. Egnatoff School.

The move has made most of her summer dedicated to setting up her classroom, but she said teachers always have a lot of work over the holidays.

“I would say that a person puts in about 60 hours of prep before school starts,” she told 650 CKOM.

Since she teaches kids who are still learning to be away from their parents, she said she needs to make sure the feeling of the classroom is just right.

“It’s really important that we make this a comforting place for them, a welcoming place for them. We need to show them that we’re able to be trusted, because when their parents leave, we are the ones who take care of them,” she said.

Gryba had lots to consider when setting up her new class.

“These kids need to move around. They can’t sit at a desk or a table all day, so you need to have a carpet area, and you need to have a center area, and you need to have areas for your math, and your language arts,” she said.

She needed to set up a bulletin board, a library, and sort all of her teaching materials into different filing cabinets.

It’s a long process, but she loves teaching so much that it doesn’t bother her.

“If you weren’t passionate, if you didn’t enjoy this job, it would be really hard to do it.”