INNISFAIL – When the tasty goods were ready for the first-ever Thanksgiving Pancake Breakfast at St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School on Oct. 7, the proud number 1 server was the new principal.
In less than six weeks, Stefan Labrecque committed himself to not only lead the school’s 305 students and 33 staff members but also being an equal part of the institution that values contributing to the community, both inside and outside St. Marguerite.
“I think schools are basically conduits of what our community should be,” said Labrecque, who succeeds as principal for the retiring Michele Wright. “As educators it's our role to teach kids about being civic-minded, about being servant leaders, and about bringing our faith to our community through our actions. And so, this is very important. This is the heart of what Catholic education is about.”
Labrecque arrives in Innisfail after being an educator for more than 22 years, including just over 10 years at Red Deer’s St. Francis of Assisi Middle School and École Secondaire Notre Dame High School.
However, for the past 12 years he’s had accessible and close social ties to Innisfail; residing just east of town out towards the Nixon Honey Farm.
That’s more than enough time to know the beat and rhythms of Innisfail and its citizenry.
His appointment to the new Innisfail educator/leadership role was a natural fit.
“It's been awesome. It's a great school. It's nice to be in a school of 305 families because we really get to interact. The pre-K to nine is cool,” said Labrecque. “It's just a great school community. It's giving. It's warm. It's welcoming. It's been a lot of fun.”
However, he comes at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on learning, even as the provincially-mandated restrictions have been lifted. Like all other schools it is a time of transition.
Labrecque said it has so far been smooth, a period with plenty of optimism.
“I think families are starting to come back into the school. We had our first volleyball game of the year about two weeks ago, and I'm sure we had about 75 people in the gym, so that was beautiful to see,” said Labrecque.
“We're starting to get our gears rolling with getting families back into the school and we're open and welcoming families to come in. The kids are doing really well, staff are excited about no restrictions and we’re just kind of moving. It's been fun.”
But what about the older students; the ones who had to transition into the pandemic and then once more out of it?
“I think they're doing really well like academically. I wouldn't say we took a pause or anything during the pandemic. Our teachers responded beautifully; our division had a really amazing plan in order to meet those needs,” said Labrecque.
“I think where we're seeing kind of that adjustment is getting back into the school life piece of it; the extracurriculars, getting kids involved in all of those things.
“A good example of that with our athletics program is we have four volleyball teams; two volleyball teams for the girls and two for the boys and full rosters,” he added.
“And we've got people wanting to do that. I think that's a really good indicator there's this eagerness; there's that desire to get back doing what people would consider to be normal.”
