CHURCH SOCIAL TIPS
We are just two weeks into what is becoming a very different learning experience for kids going back to school. But before COVID-19 was even on the radar, we knew the new St. Michael High School in Waialua would have distance learning. It was ahead of the curve in this non-traditional way of teaching and engaging students in the use of a hybrid model of online and in-person methods.
In April, a Hawaii Catholic Herald story about the school reported that it had hopes of registering 10 students for the fall semester. While they didn’t reach that goal, they do have seven. Two will attend school 100% online and five have opted for a hybrid model of two days online and in-person classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
One of the great things about online classes is that the instructors come from all around the world. The first lesson the kids were challenged with was figuring out time zones. Dallas Carter, a St. Michael’s religion teacher and the new director of the school’s Catholic virtual program, said, “Yeah, we had some bumps in the road with time zones, but it’s been pretty easy this first week and a half.”
He shared with me through a demo student profile how students access their classes and see their schedule for the entire semester.
A partnership with CatholicVirtual.com (CV) provides a world-class education from PhD-level instructors adept at teaching virtually. St. Joseph High School in Hilo is also partnering with CV and reporting that 75% of their students have opted for online learning.
Carter touts a curriculum “designed from a Catholic lens,” which really supports the model of instruction parents want for their children. Every day our students are told three things, he said, “God is real, God loves you, and God has a plan for your life.”
This past week, as many schools struggle with in-person or online-only learning, the road is bumpy for teachers not adept with teaching online.
While many schools are using Zoom, Google G-Suite tools or other teleconference models that don’t always provide the best security, CV has its own custom-built program called Maestro ensuring privacy and security for users.
In terms of mental health, experts say that students need in-person experiences with other students. As such, St. Michael High School has created weekly and monthly events to facilitate these experiences. There is Mass every Wednesday that they may attend, and a community farm that kids can work on individually or in a group adhering to social distancing.
And while the traditional model of learning limits the kids’ time for absorbing concepts, this model lets them work at their own pace. This new model could allow advanced students to complete high school in three years.
In addition to teaching in-person classes at St. Michael, Dallas also serves as a faculty member of CV. He is excited by a flexibility that allows him to teach ancillary classes in Hawaiian history and culture. As a religion teacher he also enjoys teaching aspects of our catechism like the privileged encounters we have with angels as part of Christian history. He was also grateful to see more than 30 converts to our Catholic faith last year, resulting from his work in distance learning.
Sherry Hayes-Peirce is a social media strategist based in California.
