While COVID-19 case numbers have risen significantly across the province this fall, Briercrest College and Seminary out in Caronport has managed to avoid the second wave. The school reported no new COVID cases since the beginning of the semester.

Dr. Don Taylor, the Dean of the College, says that there have been no new cases to report since the beginning of the semester.

"At the end of August, we tested all our staff, faculty, and students before the beginning of the year. That's when we caught the one case. That student was able to successfully quarantine and then carry on with his studies. Other than that, there have been no cases whatsoever throughout the rest of the semester."

Taylor says that the school's rural setting 15 minutes outside of Moose Jaw contributed to their ability to keep transmission down. However, the students themselves deserve a lot of credit as well.

"Our student body has been very cooperative. There have been changes almost every couple of weeks to the features of their daily routines to align with new public health guidelines. At the beginning, they could have family groups of up to 15 but then we had to bring that down near the end [of the semester] to where it was more like four or five."

Briercrest received approval from the SHA back in August to house and teach students on campus.

"We did offer our students the choice of online options, as well as face-to-face courses, and about 40 chose to be online and over 300 wanted to be on campus. So clearly that was the desired option by students. We of course have to distance our classes and wear masks but the guidelines ended up working."

One adjustment came in the form of a split semester which saw the normal 15-week semester cut in half.

"What we learned from last spring was that when the students had to switch online it meant they were juggling a lot of different assignments and it was very complicated for them. So we adjusted to a 7-week/1-week/7-week semester. So students were really only taking two classes at a time so that if they did become sick with anything and had to quarantine, they would have a lot less stress trying to keep up with a lot of classes."

When students arrive back for their second semester in January, they will all have to quarantine for 10 days before being allowed to socialize with their family groups.

"If we can get off to a safe start," adds Taylor, "we can safeguard the student body, and then we should be in a good place for the rest of the semester."