'Hoping for the best': Sask. teens caught in the middle of teachers' labour dispute

Roman Iula and his peers were supposed to be putting the final touches on their routine for Saskatoon high school dance and cheer city finals.

Instead, that competition and many others were cancelled this week after the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF) withdrew extracurricular activities as part of escalating job actions. Teachers are not paid for this work, but typically run these events on a voluntary basis.

"We're hoping for the best because we don't want high school to end on that note where it's like, I couldn't have my last team huddle, my last ball in the net, my last run down the court because of these cancellations," Iula said.

The Grade 12 student is one of thousands affected by the ongoing labour dispute between Saskatchewan's teachers and the province.

With extracurricular events not happening until at least April 6 because of next week's Easter break, it's affecting students well beyond sports cancellations.

Student representative councils can't meet and plan, school spirit days are being postponed or cancelled, and clubs and activities students have worked on all year might be for naught.

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Iula says students these days are missing a major part of the regular school experience.

"I get to be in my element, no matter what your element is. Not having it — and so abruptly, too. It's almost like a little piece of my identity here is missing and lost."

Jenna Xu would normally be heavily involved in her dance team, student representative council, multicultural club or badminton.

While talking to her friends in math or biology class is a fine substitute, she's missing the things she looked forward to the most.

"I really enjoy going to school and seeing my teammates, as well as talking about the extracurriculars and taking part in them," she said. "I'd say it's a huge part of my high school life. I value them as much as the academics."

Field trips, arts programs and much more are also on pause. Trying to plan and organize activities is anything but assuring right now.

"We try and plan things to get the school together, and then all this hard work you're putting into things — all the sudden it's gone," Walter Murray Collegiate student co-president said.

Many Grade 12 students are weary about the final three months of school because this situation is all too familiar.

In March 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, extracurriculars were cancelled.

Over the next few years, some returned in a limited fashion before resuming fully. After having a non-traditional school experience for multiple years, the possibility of having cherished memories taken away because of a labour dispute is becoming more likely.

"Being the seniors, we've gone through a lot to get through these four years and to have it end like this, we're just hoping for the best at this point," Iula said.