Murphy – When she heard the news of the extended school closure, Superintendent Jeana Conley said although she understood the rationale, she was “brokenhearted.”
“It’s like losing a part of your family,” she said, adding that teachers and students love and miss each other.
On March 23, Gov. Roy Cooper extended the statewide school closures to May 15, about two weeks before Cherokee County Schools’ last day of May 29.
Just two days earlier, Conley announced no graduations had not been canceled.
“I want to give the Class of 2020 my word that proms and graduations will go on once this crisis has passed and we are allowed to let you gather again,” she wrote on social media. “We would make that happen – even if that is a year away – but I hope and pray we all get back to normal soon and we don’t have to postpone.”
She confirmed that message was still true after Cooper’s new order that also reduced the number of people allowed to gather to 50. On Friday, he reduced that that number to 10.
While they cannot gather for traditional classes, Conley said her teachers have been innovative with the technology available to continue to teach, connect with and provide some stability for their students.
“I’m just amazed at our people,” Conley said. “I could not be more proud to be a part of this school system.”
Lunch bunches
One way students at Andrews Elementary School have been staying connected is through virtual lunches on Zoom’s video conferencing platform.
Principal Melissa Godfrey said she and the school counselor, Mackenzie Higdon, were brainstorming ways to help the students when they came up with the idea. As a parent of two school-age children, Godfrey was aware and concerned about how the separation from school and the teachers was affecting the students.
Higdon normally hosts “lunch bunch” meetings with students, so the virtual lunches were a natural extension of what they were doing at the school. So far, Godfrey and Higdon are hosting lunches three days a week, with a grade level per day.
“It’s gone really well,” Godfrey said.
In the first week trying it, a third to half of each class joined their scheduled Zoom meeting that also included the classroom teacher and sometimes the school librarian, nurse or the gym teacher. Since the students are in elementary school, Godfrey said that often a parent joined in, too.
The lunches aren’t the only way they are connecting – Godfrey said teachers are finding other ways to reach out to students who are not participating in the lunches. She is also aware that children aren’t always home with their parents during the day, and is considering ideas to virtually connect with students during evening hours when those students will be home with their parents.
Not only are the lunches allowing students and teachers connect, it’s giving students an opportunity to go online and use the internet in a non-academic way, Godfrey said.
Tuning in
Band students at Andrews Middle and Andrews High schools are remaining engaged in their lessons thanks to Joslyn Parker-Booth using a variety of tools to continue to teach. The first few days of first week schools were closed, she admitted she was stumped and in shock on how to teach band remotely.
“On Friday, I thought, you know, I’m going to go for it,” she said, then recorded and posted her first video.
She said she went through some trial and error, and learned through the questions her students were asking that videos required a different teaching style.
“You learn how concise you have to be,” Booth said. “You have to be concise and clear.”
She has created videos for each class for each song they are working on. She’s also started a podcast and a blog. At the end of last week, she was even learning to work with a green screen to create a video for her fifth-grade students learning “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid.
“It’s kinda evolving,” Booth said.
She said she’s seen that using these tools are motivating her students.
“I’m excited to see how well they want to do,” Booth said. “They’re actually wanting to do well.”
Staying active
Physical education teacher Daniel Ledford also got the idea to use video to continue teaching students at Peachtree Elementary School. For him, it was more of impulse idea that took off.
“I wanted the kids to be happy,” he said. “I wanted them to be active.”
In fact, Ledford said that physical activity can help relieve the stress both kids and parents may be feeling through remote learning and the uncertainty through the pandemic. He explained exercise produces endorphins which help with stress and even act as natural painkillers.
It showed in his first video. On St. Patrick’s Day, he gathered some teachers, and had them take the class.
“When they start doing gym, they’re a kid again,” Ledford said.
He plans to film one video a week for students and upload it to their Google Classroom. He also plans to continue to use other teachers in the videos, and hopes to be able to take them outside where they can better follow guidelines for social distancing.
Ledford said it’s important that everyone stays active.
“They need to be getting 30 minutes of physical activity every day of the week,” he said. “There’s no excuses right now.”
Ledford said it’s different not having the kids there, but realizes he and other teachers need “to make it the new normal.”
Getting connected
Being able to stay connected wouldn’t have been possible for actions taken by local leaders before and during the crisis, Conley said. First of all, most county schools provide a device per child starting at third grade.
“That’s pretty amazing,” she said.
Conley said she is proud that the area has the infrastructure to support remote learning for many students, and that area leaders had the forethought to bring fiber internet access to the region.
In addition, some businesses have been providing hot spots throughout the county to increase online access for students. In fact, The Cable Company established hot spots at Andrews High School, The Oaks Academy, Peachtree Elementary, Murphy High and Ranger Elementary/Middle School, while Blue Ridge Mountain Electric Membership Corp. established one at Hiwassee Dam schools.
The district has also purchased USB drives for teachers to download assignments for those students who have no internet access.
For remote learning, the district is required to follow the Child Internet Protection Act, and use tools that are secure and vetted by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, like the learning platforms available through Google. All interactions must be in a secure and monitored environment, Conley said.
Eating out
The schools are connecting with students in another way that doesn’t involve new technology. Each weekday, buses are loaded with breakfasts and lunches, to deliver to students at their bus stops. Bus drivers bring teachers to help make sure every child is getting nutritious food and a familiar face. Parents could also pick up meals at the schools.
Justin Clapsaddle, the district’s nutrition supervisor, said the schools provided 14,149 breakfast and lunch meals the first week, and 17,496 last week.
In a typical week when children are attending school, about 21,000 meals total are provided.
School lunches will continue to be delivered through spring break, April 13-17, even though the time off from school work will still be observed.