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| Laura and the Battle Boys |
This week's guest blogger is Laura Battle. I met Laura back in 2013 when we worked together at Resurrection Catholic School. I have always highly regarded Laura as an educator, St. Ann mom, and friend. I learned much about St. Ann back then from the many stories Laura shared about her boys, their teachers, and the school. I wanted to get Laura's take on the work taking place at St. Ann because Laura does view things with a critical eye. We need that critical eye to make sure we are doing the work well. So, here's Laura's take on the last five weeks of work by the St. Ann educators.
When Mr. Aur asked me to write about my experiences with St. Ann during this pandemic, I immediately said yes. If you know me, you understand how risky that could be. If you ask for my opinion, I will give it - the good and the bad. I can honestly say that I have never been more proud to be a St. Ann parent than I am right now.
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| Reid, Brett, and Drew Battle |
I have had one or more Battle boy at St. Ann for the last 15 years. Many of you know me; we have laughed, cheered, cried, and supported each other and our children throughout the years. We have spent years together in the gym or on the sidelines, car pools, and early morning pick ups to help each other out. And Lord help us, the sleepovers! We have built something at St. Ann to be proud of. I can’t believe I only have 3 more years at the school!
The closing of the schools happened so suddenly. No one expected it to happen so soon. It was the Thursday of spring break week. By Monday, my boys and I had heard from their teachers, had a chance to go to the school to get the supplies that they needed, and my boys were working. There was not one minute of lost time in instruction. Take a minute to understand how amazing that is! These teachers were on their vacations. They came back to work, worked out a plan, and put it in to action. There was no delay, no putting it off until they were more comfortable. They embraced this new way of teaching and jumped right in. They did this in 3 days!
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| Drew: Online Learning |
There was a learning curve for everyone of course. After that first day, I realized that we needed a daily schedule to help us stay on track and to provide some sort of normalcy. By the time they starting their online learning through videoconferencing the second week of distance learning, things were so much smoother here at home. Like many of you, I am working full time from home. I appreciate the fact that the teachers have stayed on top of everything and are helping my boys stay on track and working with them.
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| Brett: Online Learning |
As much as I would love to say that I can do it all, it has been wonderful to still be able to rely on the teachers and staff of St. Ann to make sure my boys are still learning and doing what they are supposed to be doing. It would be impossible for me to work from home if I had to take on their education also. We are a family at St. Ann and we work well together. It is such an amazing feeling to know that the teachers and I can still work as a team to educate my boys and that I can still rely on them to be there for my boys when I am working. If something wasn’t working, they fixed it. For example, for the middle school students, since they have several teachers, they need to check several teacher blogs. To make sure assignments do not get missed and to help students and parents keep up, a weekly list of assignments is now sent out.
Let’s look at this time line again. On Thursday of spring break, schools were closed. Over that weekend, we were allowed in the school to get what they needed. By Monday, each teacher had a blog up with work posted for the students. By the next week, my boys were having online classes with their teachers. I am sure all of you join me in thanking everyone at St. Ann for getting out of their comfort zones and working together to do what is best for their students.
Laura Battle, MSSW, Ed.D
Mom of:
Reid SAS ‘17
Brett SAS ‘20,
Drew SAS ’23
Thank you Laura for sharing your thoughts. I appreciate the time you have taken to serve as a St. Ann guest blogger.
God bless you,
Didier Aur, Principal
St. Ann Catholic School
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