A Journey of Faith: We Never Did It That Way Before

This is the second in a series of blogs where I have asked St. Ann educators if they would be willing to write a blog on what it has been like teaching during this pandemic. Several of our educators took time to write down their thoughts. So, the next several blogs will feature St. Ann educators reflecting on teaching during the pandemic. Next up is our first grade educator, Melanie Wall.

This is my first year teaching at St. Ann. While I could take this opportunity to let everyone know about the incredibly warm welcome I received and how helpful and patient all the staff and families have been, I think I'd like to share about what I’ve witnessed at St. Ann over the past two months.

Let me give you a little background first. Many people don’t know that I come from a rather diverse employment background. One job I held while working on my undergraduate degree at the University of Memphis (Memphis State, at the time) was at my father's small medical practice. I was in charge of filing insurance claims. During my time there, the big shift was made from keeping medical records and insurance claims on paper to submitting all electronically. When it was announced that we'd no longer be using the more “traditional“ ways of record keeping, I was shocked at the reaction from some of his staff, especially those who had been with him the longest. They weren't happy at all, and were quick to grumble and argue about the changes taking place. My father patiently listened to their grievances but kept moving forward. I'll never forget walking into the office break room one day during this transition and seeing a sign he had posted. It read “ . . . the last words of a dying organization are ‘We never did it that way before.’” The office eventually successfully transitioned, but the grumbling remained for quite some time.

Christmas Party

Fast forward to Friday, March 13^th this year. Mr. Aur called an emergency faculty meeting to deal with the school closing due to COVID -19. As I walked into the library that day, I was nervous. What was the atmosphere going to be like? Would I see the same resistance to change that I’d seen in the past? While I knew the situations were very different, I felt in many ways that this change would be more frightening.

What I saw was amazing. In spite of the uncertainty of the situation, there was an incredible positive attitude. I heard about ideas based on how we were going to make distance learning work instead of complaints and negativity. The teachers immediately began sharing and offered to help each other as we entered this new realm of education.

Since that day in the library, there have been incredible virtual meetings and professional development sessions. Has it been perfect? No. While there have been a few tears of frustration and sadness, the teachers and administrators have continued to work together. Distance learning has been and is a work in progress and I, especially, have struggled. But the focus from the beginning of this journey has remained on solutions. I have not seen or heard any issues of “we've never done it that way before;” instead, the prevailing attitude has been “Let's do this!” That's one of the many reasons why I’m so proud and thrilled to call St. Ann home.