It is the interaction between the educators and the students at Central Catholic High School that was missed most during the virtual ending of the 2019-2020 school year, and that is why Principal Becky Sancomb is hopeful all involved can return to that environment the third week of August.
West Virginia Catholic Schools released this week the plan to be utilized when the academic year begins in a month, and Sancomb explained that students and their parents are pleased to be returning to a regular schedule.
“Our goal all along was to get back into school, and our parents have known that from the very beginning. No one knew if that was going to be possible, but now that we have learned a lot about this virus and what precautions work best, everyone feels that right now it’s going to be possible to be back five days per weeks,” she explained. “We have been working on how best to protect everyone involved when we do go back, and that has involved coming up with ways to go from class to class, the desk placement in our classrooms, and what entrances and exits are best to utilize when going in and out of the building.
“Transportation is another issue that we’ve been working on, including our students that are bussed, dropped off, and the ones who are able to drive to school,” Sancomb said. “We all took a lot of these things for granted before COVID-19, but in the last few months we’ve learned that we can’t do that anymore.”
How Education Works
While some parents choose to homeschool their children, the vast majority instead opt for the setting that includes one-to-one interaction between teachers and students. Relationships inevitably develop in the classrooms, hallways, cafeterias, and during athletic competition.
In mid-March, though, all of it vanished and virtual formats replaced what most were once able to take for granted.
“Our teachers did an amazing job getting the virtual platform ready for full-time use during the final couple of months of the school year, but that platform was designed for emergency situations like when there’s bad weather outside,” Sancomb explained. “But they got that ready in only two days, and our students have the devices they could using during those weeks of class.
“We all know that it’s best to be back in the building,” she said. “Obviously, we can’t predict what could happen between now and late August, but we do know that it is best for our teachers and our students to work directly with each other during the education process. That’s what works best, and it’s been scientically proven to be the best way to education. That’s why most parents don’t choose other methods.”
And yes, even if everyone has to wear a face-covering all day, every day.
“Right now, we’re not sure if our students will need to wear a mask the entire day or just in the hallways. That’s something we’re waiting to finalize, but if we have to wear a mask the whole day in order to keep each other safe, then that’s what we will do,” Sancomb said. “I know some people find them uncomfortable, but I can say that the more you wear one, the more you get used to it.
“Everything we’re working on is about safety, so we plan on doing what we need to do in order to make this happen,” she said. “It’s important to the process at Central Catholic, and right now we’re very hopeful that’s what will take place.”
Back to Normal – Kinda
She doesn’t know about athletics. Not right now.
Sancomb knows the plan in place, and student-athletes were able to participate in summer conditioning programs while following the mandates set forth by the West Virginia Second Schools Activities Commission, but that was with social distancing in place.
And there’s no social distancing in a sport like football.
“Right now, we don’t have a good sense on how it will all play out by the time we get to the point to where our teams are scheduled to compete,” she said. “Right now, we just want our students to be able to get to school because one of the foundations in education is the relationship between the students and the teacher, and it’s those relationships that allow the learning to take place in the best possible ways. Building those relationships in school is crucial to the learning process, so that’s why we are so hopeful that we can get back to being in the building five days per week.
“Is it possible to build those relationships remotely? Yes and no, but it does take a lot more time for the teacher and the student to accomplish the same thing without being face-to-face. Plus, I am sure our teachers, and our students missed an actual end to their school days because when everyone was at home, it never seemed to stop,” Sancomb added. “We did a survey of our students, and one of the things they told us they missed a lot were the relationships they had with teachers that they didn’t have for class, so returning to that kind of setting is very important.”
