{"id":5042,"date":"2020-04-07T18:32:47","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T18:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/2020\/04\/07\/bright_spots_crisis\/"},"modified":"2022-09-27T19:49:30","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T19:49:30","slug":"bright_spots_crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prichard-backup.com\/July\/bright_spots_crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"CRISIS EXPANDS DEFINITION OF SCHOOL WORK"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]APRIL 2020 \\\\ SCHOOL SUPPORT STAFF<\/p>\n
For more than 100 high school students in Graves County, thinking about the effects of coronavirus arrived months before prevention measures transformed students\u2019 lives and left school staffs and communities scrambling to meet the needs of suddenly isolated students and families.<\/p>\n
Before routines were upended, science teacher Stephanie Duke encountered a new unit about the emerging COVID-19 outbreak in China at a meeting of science teachers early this year. Duke immediately added the materials to her physics classes as a timely opportunity to analyze a new virus \u2014\u00a0its symptoms, effects and spread. The lesson required students to compare information they collected from general searches against data and materials from scientific sources like the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control.<\/p>\n
Duke said the experience applied Kentucky\u2019s high school science and engineering standards that expect students to \u201ccompare, integrate and evaluate sources of information\u201d to address scientific questions and also to pose questions \u201cthat arise from careful observation of phenomena\u201d to clarify information. Students\u2019 work also covered the science standards\u2019 emphasis on understanding scale, proportion and quantity \u2014 how the significance of a phenomenon depends on how dramatically it spreads.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe news about this virus was just starting to come out. China was reporting cases, and kids were asking lots of questions,\u201d said Duke, an 18-year teacher who is Graves County\u2019s secondary science coach. \u201cBy digging into scientific research, they knew where to find resources that are reliable, with real information. Of course, I don\u2019t think any of us expected it to effect us at this level.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kentucky\u2019s aggressive response to limiting the virus\u2019s spread upended student and family life. In addition to new modes of teaching and learning, the crisis has also jolted school staffs into new directions and prompted community responses to supplement student learning and support families\u2019 welfare.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
<\/h3>\n A STUDENT AND PARENT IN CHRISTIAN COUNTY PICKUP MEALS AT A MOBILE FEEDING SITE. Photo courtesy of Tom Bell.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
CONNECTING STUDENTS WITH MEALS<\/h3>\n
In many districts, schools have played a major role in delivering breakfast and lunch to students. The job has involved bus drivers, cooks and staff members from Family Youth Services and Resource Centers (FRYSC). In Christian County, school board member Tom Bell said that many volunteers and school staff members have been involved in keeping students and families fed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has been one of the most positive things we\u2019ve done as a school board as far as comments and appreciation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Schools have become locations where families can get meals, with mobile sites\u00a0 set up across the county. Meal delivery is available to more rural locations.<\/p>\n
Bell said that school administrators have been involved in making sure students are fed, which has also drawn in local agencies, churches, housing providers, and more. Donations from the community also help support the meals program. The district has been providing about 3,600 meals per day, roughly half of the 7,000 meals served during a normal school day, officials said. About about 80 food service workers are involved in the efforts, with meal packing added to the routine.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just an extension of what we do in the Christian County Public Schools \u2014 making sure children are taken care of and providing need-based services,\u201d said Bell, a local insurance agent. Driving to a mobile meal site, Bell spotted a woman pushing a stroller and stopped to ask about her situation. The conversation resulted in an additional delivery stop that provided meals to six children.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I showed up at that house, the kids were jumping up and down,\u201d Bell said. \u201cMy hat\u2019s really off to the team and those working to provide meals.\u201d<\/p>\n
DELIVERING SUPPLIES AND INFORMATION<\/h3>\n
FRYSCs connected to schools have been another key player in meal programs, while also working to meet other needs of students and families.<\/p>\n
In Ashland, the Youth Service Center at Paul Blazer High School launched a Basic Needs Drive Thru where families could request and pick up supplies ranging from paper and pencils to toothbrushes, laundry detergent, macaroni and cheese, and even Play-Doh and coloring books. The event drew 75 students and their families in its first week and 120 students in the second, when a donor showed up with fresh strawberries.<\/p>\n
The county extension office provided science kits that would allow students to dissect owl pellets at home, as well as providing families with information like how to deal with stress and how to stretch their dollars.<\/p>\n
School-led outreach efforts have become a popular way for community members and businesses to offer support for families and school employees. In Bullitt County, for example, businesses provided lunch to teachers one week and, the next week, to bus drivers delivering meals and student work packets.<\/p>\n
District staff have been pressed into service on numerous fronts. In Jefferson County, technology staff have worked to match Chromebooks with students lacking technology to allow the shift to non-traditional instruction. Connecting students was happening at the same time technology staff was also reworking phone systems to make sure calls are routed to adults working at home.<\/p>\n
Jefferson County\u2019s English as a Second Language staff has been swamped trying to ensure changes are widely understood.\u00a0A team of 50 bilingual employees, staff and translators from partner agencies can provide instant support in 240 languages. More than 100 languages and dialects are spoken in the district. Livan Lima, the district\u2019s language services program coordinator, said that a recently completed project involved translating \u201cchoice boards\u201d for students\u2019 non-transitional instruction into Arabic, French, Spanish and Swahili.<\/p>\n
“What\u2019s been challenging during this extended closure is the quick turnaround times for the translations we are facilitating,\u201d Lima said. “Everything is a priority.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team is translating communications to parents about instruction procedures, classwork, school updates and other messages. Their work is being loaded onto the district website, social media, and messages to families. On a daily basis, the language staff also works with teachers needing over-the-phone and virtual interpreters to communicate with individual families.<\/p>\n
Schools recognize the personal strain created by prolonged closures. In rural Floyd County, the district created a dedicated counseling phone line for students dealing with stress or seeking guidance during the school closure.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are so blessed to be out here and serving these families,\u201d said Brittany Brown, the Blazer High youth services center coordinator. Being able to see and help families \u2014 even from a safe distance \u2014 has made an important contribution, she said.<\/p>\n
Rose Stafford, coordinator of the South Ashland Family Resource Center, which serves three elementary schools, said that schools have become essential to helping families adjust to the upheaval of virus-related closings and disruptions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a shock to everyone. We know the need is there and is going to continue to grow,\u201d Stafford said.<\/p>\n
Having children at home is a challenge in itself, she added. Widespread job losses and uncertainty about the future have created a crisis where dependable information and support are critical.<\/p>\n
Stafford said that since her resource center\u2019s daycare program closed, she has worked closely with parents lacking adequate child care. For many adults, family resource centers, schools, and other agencies are providing lifelines.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s been a shock to everyone. We know the need is there and is going to continue to grow. <\/i><\/b><\/h2>\n
\u2014 ROSE STAFFORD, SOUTH ASHLAND FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER<\/b><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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