Millwood students on what work-to-rule means for them

Every Wednesday at noon, Emily Hammond of Millwood High School in Middle Sackville plays basketball with children with special needs. It's part of program she leads called Unified Sports.

"It's just a place for them to play basketball, work on their social skills and feel like part of a team," Hammond said.

This Wednesday, it's cancelled. Teachers are working to rule and the gym is closed.

Work-to-rule

Work-to-rule involves teachers showing up to school just 20 minutes before the start of each school day, only doing tasks related to the classroom learning, and leaving 20 minutes after the end of each school day.

The move comes after a breakdown in contract talks between the Nova Scotia Teachers Union and the Nova Scotia government.

The province said the union's proposal is too expensive and unrealistic, while the teachers have accused the government of not taking its workplace concerns seriously.

'Just sad to see'

"It's just sad to see them get taken away from something they love to do and it's not really their fault," Hammond said.

To highlight the problem Hammond took to Twitter with the hashtag #benchedstudents.

One by one, Emily is taking photos of every school group that's on hiatus thanks to the contract strife between the provincial government and the NSTU.

She's posting the pics on Twitter with a caption about the group and the teacher who leads the group on a volunteer basis.

Teachers 'like my best friends'

"They're like my best friends. I could go to them for anything," Hammond said of her teachers at Millwood. "The people in this building specifically are some of the kindest people I've ever met." 

Emily's busy school life has come to a grinding halt. She sits on the student council, is a sports and spirit rep and captain of the girls basketball team.

Her friend Nik Sutherland is in the same boat.

Sutherland is co-president of the student council and is part of a school organization called Unified for Health.

'We can't move forward' 

The group tackles issues around mental health and addiction at schools. They look for ways to reduce stress in school. They even fundraise to buy furniture to make spaces more comfortable.

It's a student run group but it relies on the help of a student volunteer from Dalhousie University.

The volunteer can't lead the group under the terms of the work-to-rule regime.

"We can't actually move forward with what we want to do without anyone's help," Sutherland said.

Both Sutherland and Hammond say they support their teachers but wish the two sides would get back to the table.   

"If they could just all come back to the table and talk it all out I think that would be perfect," Sutherland said.   

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