OP_032620

4 | March 26, 2020 | the orland Park Prairie news
OPPrairiedaily.com
5
Sandburg’s eLearning a ‘different dynamic’ for all
Kyle LaHucik, Freelance
Reporter
The global COVID-19
pandemic through which
we are living will one day
be pivotal units in high
school economics and
world history courses.
But in this moment,
Consolidated High School
District 230 students are
dealing with their own
new reality: remote learning.
Last month, before the
coronavirus took root in
the United States, students
had pined for their first eLearning
day.
When D230 officials
developed their eLearning
program, a global pandemic
likely was not fathomable
nor factored into the
contingency planning for a
system meant merely to replace
snow and inclement
weather days. The State
approved the program in
December, and prior to
the first day of eLearning
March 16, students had
two training sessions.
Sandburg High School,
like the rest of the world
right now, is “navigating
uncharted waters,” Principal
Jennifer Tyrrell said.
Despite the general uncertainty
surrounding CO-
VID-19, students have still
shown up to learn, even if
it means dressed in pajamas.
As of the first two days,
96 percent of students attended
school electronically,
the district reported.
“ELearning has been a
learning experience for not
only the students but for
the adults, as well,” Superintendent
James Gay said
in an emailed statement.
“While there have been
some small challenges
along the way, they pale
in comparison to the outstanding
compassion our
staff has for our students’
educational and emotional
well-being.”
On March 20, Gov. J.B.
Pritzker ordered a stay-athome
policy until the end
of the day April 7, which
includes extending the
school closures originally
planned till March 30.
“In light of Gov. Pritzker’s
stay-at-home order,
all District 230 buildings
and grounds will be closed
for at least the duration of
the order,” Gay wrote in a
letter to students, families
and staff shortly after the
governor’s announcement.
“I encourage you to comply
with the governor’s
order and spend time with
your families at home.”
Gay said over spring
break, administration will
be reviewing eLearning
plans. Families are asked
to complete a survey sent
to help with that planning.
Following spring break,
eLearning is to resume
March 30, and the district
is to send further details as
plans are refined.
The week of March 16,
D230 was focused on implementing
the plan, which
called for students to mark
attendance via learning
management system Skyward
between 9 a.m. and
11 a.m., and partake in a
variety of methods of remote
learning: watching
recorded lectures, posting
reading responses on
Canvas discussion boards,
video-conferencing with
teachers and classmates,
and, above all, submitting
assignments by the normally
scheduled last bell
at 3 p.m.
Meghan Haran, a Sandburg
senior and president
of the school’s Model
Pictured is one of the eLearning interfaces being
used by Consolidated High School District 230 while
students are at home but continuing their education
during the coronavirus pandemic. Image submitted
United Nations, said the
first four days had gone
“surprisingly really well.”
She said it has been an adjustment
shifting to learning
from home since finding
out the district would
make the move after leaving
school on March 13.
Her parents work for
businesses that are deemed
essential during emergency
scenarios such as the
coronavirus, so they are
still commuting to work
every day, which means
Haran not only takes part
in her own eLearning
but also looks after her
siblings: twins who are
in fifth grade in Orland
School District 135.
“It’s a different dynamic,”
she said.
“I’ve been calling her
the ‘eLearning Administrator,’”
her mother, Eileen
Dixon, said with a chuckle.
Erica Gary, a Sandburg
senior who normally
serves as co-master of ceremonies
for the school’s
daily announcements, said
the first week has gone
well. Her math and social
studies teachers have
eased the transition by
posting recorded videos
of themselves going stepby-step
through the lesson
notes.
On average, she has
spent 30-45 minutes on
each class, which is not
far off from the normal
48-minute class period.
Like Haran, Gary has
also been at home with
siblings this week. Her
two older sisters — one a
junior in college and the
other a medical student
— also were sent home
from their universities. To
crowd the Gary home even
further, both parents are
working remotely.
The hardest adjustment
for both Gary and Haran
has not been staying on
track with the curriculum.
Rather, it is the social fix
that high-schoolers crave
— the chats with friends
in the hallway during passing
periods, mingling with
classmates and hanging
out during lunch.
Haran and Gary have
FaceTimed their friends
and frequently pop into
group text messages with
friends to bridge the human-interaction
gap. Gary
had also been playing tennis
with her mother, Joelle
Gary, early in the week.
Haran met with friends
early last week but with
the constant messaging in
the news about social distancing,
she said she has
decided to essentially go
on lockdown.
The school community
has remained connected
in light of being separated
by distance, Tyrrell said,
noting students have been
“resilient and agile.” Students,
teachers and administrators
have been posting
photos and videos to social
media as part of a virtual
spirit week, led by Assistant
Principal Greg Gardner.
Social workers and guidance
counselors are still
available during eLearning,
Tyrrell said. District
administrators delivered
meals to over 300 students
on March 18 to ensure
students still have access
to food. And “teachers
are stepping up for their
kids,” Tyrrell said, adding
that they are “pushing the
envelope and doing everything
and more.”
Catherine Johnson, a
Spanish teacher, said that
the technology department
and digital professionals,
including Desi Vuillaume,
Christine Borst and Chris
Frye, have “prepared our
staff for years with setting
up learning management
system courses online and
have become true experts
in all things digital.”
For Chris Komer — a
teacher of computer aided
design, architecture and
engineering courses — the
switch to eLearning has
produced another avenue
of instruction.
“One of the positives
has been that I have utilized
a lot more online resources
and materials than
I normally would,” Komer
wrote in an email to The
Prairie. “For instance,
the Chicago Architecture
Center has a fabulous interactive
website with a
load of information for
schools and teachers, and
my students had to use it
to complete their first assignments.”
Student-issued Chromebooks
are unable to install
the Autodesk software
that Komer’s classes require,
so a hurdle he has
faced is trying to ensure
all students have access
to a computer so they can
download the free Autodesk
version available to
students.
Going digital also can
mean losing that in-person
spark.
“I know that we teachers
pride ourselves on making
personal connections each
day with our students and
live for those classroom
discussions,” Johnson
wrote in an email.
Sometimes the digital
touch can do the trick,
though.
“While it’s not the same
nor the recommended way
to acquire a new language,
for many students it adds a
certain level of confidence
Please see sandburg, 15