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Students from Winnipeg’s Maples Collegiate have unofficially taken up residency in the towns of Wolseley and Indian Head.
On Wednesday, the students were on three buses driving to Winnipeg after spending time at a music festival in Edmonton. Their drive was going smoothly until late Wednesday night when things took an unexpected turn.
(Skilled Truckers Canada/Facebook)
One of the buses carrying 47 students and three staff members got into a crash with a semi-trailer unit on the Trans-Canada Highway near Sintaluta during the spring snowstorm that hammered Saskatchewan.
The bus driver reportedly suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries; the students and staff were fine aside from a couple of scrapes and bruises.
Connie Baumgartner, the principal of Dr. Isman Elementary School in Wolseley, said she learned about the crash just before 9 p.m., when she was putting her kids to bed.
“The retired principal (at the school) is also involved in the town and was at a town meeting and they heard about this busload of children who were stranded on the side of the road,” she said. “He sent me a message that said ‘Call me,’ so I called and he explained what was going on.”
After he asked if the stranded kids could stay at the school, Baumgartner called her bosses and they gave her the green light to let the students from Winnipeg stay at the school.
Baumgartner then directed staff members to help out. Volunteers from the town also dropped what they were doing to help get the students what they needed.
“It was a joint effort between the staff and community,” she said. “We had some mats here at the school, but then we had to find the right people so we can go into the other school to get some more mats. We also have a staff (group) chat and looked for blankets and mattresses.”
The students and staff stayed inside the gymnasium and library for the night.
In the morning, the local bakery made the kids breakfast. Other volunteers and staff members then figured out a feeding plan as the time went on.
(Connie Baumgartner/Submitted)
Baumgartner says when the kids weren’t eating, they were busy helping the elementary kids with their schoolwork and playing sports with them.
She called the entire thing surreal and not intimidating at all for the younger kids.
“It was amazing to see how the kids (from Winnipeg) intermingled with our kids because we’re K-to-6 and it was a snow day, so we had less kids here at the building because some of the (school) buses weren’t running. It was a very unique opportunity,” Baumgartner explained.
“The kids (from Winnipeg) have been going into the classrooms and they’ve been working with the kids on some of their schoolwork and writing. We’ve had them doing musical performances to one another and (Friday) morning we got our students to sing O Canada to (them).
“They’ve been in the gym playing floor hockey and basketball. It’s just a very rare opportunity that presented itself and such a rewarding experience for both our students and their students.”
Meanwhile, the remaining 94 people from the Maples travelling party stopped in Indian Head. They’ve been staying at the town hall since Wednesday.
(Connie Baumgartner/Submitted)
Baumgartner hopes the activities at her school were able to take the guests’ minds off what has been a very stressful couple of days.
On Friday, the Winnipeg students went for a walk with the Grade 4 and 5 students and also got to check out the infamous swinging bridge in Wolseley. Volunteers also found a place for the students to take showers.
According to Baumgartner, the students will stay at the school until the roads are safe and clear to drive on once again.
Baumgartner says this entire week will stick with her for a long time.
“I honestly think between our kids and their kids, we’re never going to forget this week,” said Baumgartner, who thanked all the students, staff members and volunteers for helping with the experience.