It’s been a Forrest Gump kind of year,” said Angela Woyak, principal of Westside Elementary School, as she introduced her annual report to the Park County School District 1 Board of Trustees.

Woyak then launched a PowerPoint presentation of the 2019-20 school year with graphics and quotes from the Academy Award-winning movie from 1995.

“Forrest controlled what he could, and adapted to the rest,” Woyak said at the board’s Jan. 12 meeting. “That’s what we’re doing and I assure you the joy is there.”

Highlights of the year included the work done by the robotics team, advancements in STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — ski trips, a third-grade wax museum and Read Across America, which raised close to $15,000. Because the students met and surpassed their reading and fundraising goals, they got to dump slime on Woyak’s head as a reward.

Of course, those activities mostly occurred before the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered schools in Park County and around the nation last spring. There have been many accomplishments since the new term began in the fall of 2020.

There were no typical end of the year assessments — commonly referred to as testing — for the elementary students. But when the mid-year assessments were conducted before Christmas break, the largest percentage of the students were working and reading at or above their grade level.

Early in the year, indications were kindergartners, first- and second-grade students had dropped 45% in their proficiencies, while third through fifth graders had lost 10% in their competencies. But great strides had been made by the end of the term.

“We’re recouping fast,” Woyak said, adding that as of last week, “76% are right where they are supposed to be, right on their level.”

There were challenges to reopening the school safely, she said. The administration did whatever it took to get reopened. There are plexiglass barriers in the classrooms and lunch room so the kids get breaks from being behind a mask. Distancing is enforced by seating charts. There are remote learners and quarantine learners, Woyak said, and there is contact tracing to be done.

“In our box of chocolates,” she said, reverting to the Forrest Gump theme, “this is orange creme.”

The school is still dealing with visitor restrictions and restrictions on field trips, but the upside is new technology for students in the form of new chromebooks — and those are being put to good use via virtual field trips to replace those that have been canceled or postponed.

Other work being done on an administrative level includes continued work on the professional learning community to maintain the school’s focus on its mission and values.

“The good chocolates have been realizing the resiliency and adaptability of our learners. It stunned us,” Woyak said. “They are not just surviving, they’re thriving.”