Dr. Laura Battle- This Week's Guest Blogger

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.

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!

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. 

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

Previous Blog: https://didieraur.blogspot.com/2020/04/holy-week-and-easter-during-time-of.html

"Apollo 13'ed"

Ken Buck is a school board member in Lancaster County, South Carolina. He posted the following statement on his Facebook page:

We gave educators almost no notice. We asked them to completely redesign what school looks like and in about 24 hours local administrators and teachers "Apollo 13'ed" the problem and fixed it. Kids learning, children being fed, needs being met in the midst of a global crisis. No state agency did this, no so-called national experts on curriculum. The local educators fixed it in hours. HOURS. In fact, existing state and federal policies actually created multiple roadblocks. Local schools figured out how to do it around those too. No complaining and no handwringing - just solutions and amazingly clever plans.
Remember that the next time someone tries to convince you that schools are better run by mandates from non-educators. Remember that the next time someone tells you that teachers have it easy or try to persuade you that educators are not among the smartest, most ingenious people in society. And please never say to me again, "Those who can't do anything else just go into teaching."

Get out of the way of a teacher and watch with amazement at what really happens.

Thank you to Jennifer Podesta for posting this on the Colt Parent Facebook page. I see Jennifer's post as an appreciation of the work being performed not only by the teachers at St. Ann, but teachers everywhere.

Our Catholic School teachers don't have to deal with government agencies and national experts on curriculum. We have the blessing of a very supportive Bishop and Catholic School Superintendent to figure out the solutions and move forward with doing our best to help the children. They both stated in our meeting yesterday that we will not stop educating our children. Gotta love it when your leaders support your mission and work 100%! The Catholic School principals are also providing each other guidance with the challenges of online learning for elementary and middle school students.

Ken Buck's statement is so true, and it makes me think about what a great staff of educators we have at St. Ann from the front office to the classrooms. I have the great privilege of working with these folks everyday. I know they would all rather be in their classrooms teaching the students face-to-face and being part of the miracle of learning as they have been for many years. The alternative of posting assignments on a blog page for parents to assist their children is not their choice but it is the best option for education at this time.

As with all parents, their world has been rocked. Their whole way of dealing with everyday activities has completely changed. They are putting in more hours per day than they did when the students were present. When I left yesterday at 4:00 for a 4:30 meeting, the PK teachers were still here trying to figure out how best to serve their students and parents. And, for awhile, it is only going to get more difficult until we can fill in all the potholes and the roads once again become easily navigable.

Think about the work of teachers. How do they put together lesson plans for students who are not sitting in front of them? How do they test the students to see if they are meeting educational objectives? Are they mastering the subjects/skills? Do they need extra help? How do they evaluate students' social/emotional development? How do they model their Catholic/Christian faith to the students? How do they show students love when they aren't present? That's tough to do.

We aren't exactly sure how to do this, but we are all trying to figure it out. It is a lot easier for high schools and colleges to administer online/distance learning. You plan out your classes, write your syllabus, post it, and expect the students to follow it. If they do, they get good grades. If not, that's their responsibility. This doesn't work with elementary and middle school students. They are neither ready nor equipped to deal with education without having the necessary guidance. My heart goes out to the teachers and parents of the younger students. You are the ones with the toughest job of all. Because of this and many more reasons, the faculty, staff, and families at St. Ann amaze me.

This is a teachable moment for all of us. Our children see how we react in times of adversity and learn from the examples we set. The result I hope to see from this is that our children learn to handle adversity without fear and with a level head. This will make them stronger, more compassionate people and be able to deal with whatever life throws their way.

The first wave of the Coronavirus storm is just now hitting us in the United States. The biggest part of the storm is yet to come if we don't heed the Center for Disease Control (CDC) precautions. CLICK HERE to access information from the CDC on how to protect ourselves from the Coronavirus.

We at St. Ann must keep in mind that school is in session, but how we operate looks completely different. Home, work, and school life have changed for all of us. Daily teaching and learning must continue and continue with purpose. We have an obligation to our children to work and continue the education process. Since we are going to fight this battle together, I like the side I’m on.

St. Joseph (today is his feast day)...Pray for us!

St. Ann...Pray for us!

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

St. Ann Catholic School