Only 4-Months Left

There are only 4-months left of this epic school year; the year of the Coronavirus. In a month and a half, we will reach the one-year anniversary of the March 16th switch to virtual learning for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year. On this year's first anniversary, I hope to be enjoying Spring Break 2021 since Spring Break 2020 was pretty much non-existent. That break was spent preparing for virtual learning. For me, March 16th is a day to be remembered like 9/11. Unlike 9/11, March 16th has many positives to go along with it like our staff successfully implementing virtual learning; something we had no idea how to do five days before then.

Since the start of the pandemic, the world has experienced 2.23 million COVID-19 deaths. The United States has had 439K deaths. I, like everyone else, have lost friends and loved ones during this pandemic. Many families that have lost a loved one recently are having to wait up to a week or so to even meet with funeral home directors to plan a funeral.

I heard this simile today. "Life is like a fog, it appears, quickly dissipates and goes away." What a terrible, yet so accurate way of describing our lives on earth. I want to be more than a fog, at least to myself and my family anyway. That's why I love to wake early and get to work each day because even though my life, like the fog, will quickly dissipate and go away, I want to make a positive difference (too much negative out there already) while I'm still here. If I can first make a positive difference in my own life, maybe that will rub off on others, and help make the lives of those around me just a little bit better. As St. Teresa of Calcutta once said, "We can do no great things, only small things with great love."

During this pandemic, depression and anxiety have run rampant throughout the world. We have seen it at St. Ann with the students, but mainly when the school year started back in August. With the staff, the anxiety was present just before March 16th during the conversion from live to virtual learning. Since then, things have gotten better and the school year has been running smoothly with a few speed bumps along the way to slow things down. Anxiety still exists, but at a much lower level. I feel this is the case because our students and staff are present and our education has been live. For the few who are online, their education has been extremely individualized because of the work of our three online teachers. This has greatly reduced anxiety and increased learning levels.

We have learned many lessons along the way. A number of the changes we have made will be permanent changes simply because they are better. During this time, I have learned more than ever before about education, and it appears our teachers have learned how to educate our students in better ways. With the implementation of a new Math and Language Arts curriculum and the great work of our teachers with the students, we have seen tremendous results in the winter easyCBM scores. The improvements we have seen especially in math are incredible. There was an increase, with some very substantial increases, in both math assessments for all grades Kinder-8th! Just a reminder that math was the hardest hit subject during virtual learning.

With the new strain of COVID-19 approaching and expected to hit us in March (I'm starting to dislike March), and the lack of vaccines available, we will continue with all the current precautions in place.  This isn't the time to let up, but instead to reinforce procedures to keep everyone safe.

There are a lot of things happening in our world. It is up to us to decide if those happenings are negative or positive. I think you know me well enough by now to know that I'm going to put on my rose-colored glasses and look for all the good that I can. Bad things happen and tragedies occur. That's part of life. They aren't fun, but we have to deal with them. Longfellow once wrote, "Into each life some rain must fall." I'm glad I like the rain.

Let us find the positives in our lives and enjoy the fog while it is here.

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

St. Ann Catholic School

There is No Finish Line

Learning About Saints

The original title of this blog post was "Preparing to Go Virtual Again." But, doesn't that title give you a sick feeling? The sad thing is we ARE preparing to go virtual again. We spent so much time since the spring shutdown getting ready for school to reopen that we have not spent but a minute planning for another shutdown. Not planning for a future shutdown as of now has completely changed. We were super-well prepared for the last shutdown, but we plan to be even more for a next possible shutdown. So, if you are wondering what fills our days at St. Ann besides the usual, everyday, procedural-laden, Covid-19 form of education; well, getting ready for a shutdown is what we are doing.

Reading Time

So, why did I change the title of this blog post? In our virtual principals' meeting yesterday, one of the principals talked about how everything we do in education typically has a finish line. With this pandemic, there is no finish line. Not having a finish line causes stress and anxiety with many folks. Nationally, quite a few teachers are experiencing these in big ways, which is leading to an educational exodus that will have negative affects on learning for generations to come.

People can endure just about anything if they know where the finish line is. With what's happening, there is no finish line. The finish line might be this fall. Many have heard it said that this will all end on Election Day. I am not a conspiracy theorist, at least not yet. So, I don't buy that. The finish line might be the fall of 2021. No one knows. And, this is going to increase stress and anxiety levels. Bottom line is there is no finish line. There is no end in sight. How many of you keep forgetting what day it is? Some folks have to remind themselves we are nearing the end of July, I mean August. 

Writing Time

So, we are preparing for what we can prepare for and putting the finish line in God's hands. We are going to put our stress and anxiety in His hands as well. Personally, I'm going to not question so much. I'm not going to cause others more stress and anxiety by questioning everything.

I mentioned in my blog post "Honey in My Lemonade" that this has been one of the best summers of my life. The best summers of my life were the summers my family spent on Santos Beach in Brazil, my native country. My plan is to have one of the best autumns of my life in 2020. Every day will be me enjoying Santos Beach. Instead of seeing the end of this pandemic as the finish line, my finish line is going to be the end of every day when I go naninha (Portuguese for night-night). The race will start again the next morning. 

Peaceful Protest

Here's how we are planning for a possible shutdown. Led by Annmarie Ghio, every teacher is designing a shutdown plan. Yes, they are putting their plans in writing because we want to be ready to distribute the shutdown plans if it happens. Their plans will list all the websites we will be using (FACTS, blogs, IXL, ReadWorks, Be My Disciple, Google Classroom, Seesaw and about ten more) and where to find your child's passwords to log-in to these sites. The plans will even have a daily academic schedule for your child to follow.

We have spent the last few days getting all students and educators registered with Houghton-Mifflin-Harcourt's Journeys for English Language Arts (ELA). This is the new ELA curriculum we purchased with online components in case of the dreaded shutdown. The online components of Sadlier Math have already been put into use. This is the updated Math curriculum we purchased for virtual learning. We have added science and social studies to IXL language arts and math. We are currently exploring other programs such as BrainPOP that teachers can utilize to help students.

Learning About Saints

It is bizarre to think that while the school year moves forward in-person for 90% of the students (10% of the students are virtual), we are preparing to go 100% virtual just in case. I am hoping that all the preparation for virtual learning is done for naught. If we are able to go live all year without a shutdown, think we will have to throw a massive end of the school year party for everyone at St. Ann. If that were to happen, then that massive party will be our finish line. Until then, I'm just going to jog and not sprint to the finish line because we are only in week three of thirty-seven.

Will we be prepared if we go 100% virtual again? There is no doubt we will be prepared academically. Mentally will any of us be prepared? Hopefully, we will never have to answer that question.

God bless you,
Didier Aur, Principal
St. Ann Catholic School

"Why St. Ann?" by Liz Wehmeyer

Liz, Olivia, and JT

This week's guest blogger is Liz Wehmeyer. Liz is an elementary school teacher with Bartlett City School and a mother of two students at St. Ann. J.T. is in 6th grade and Olivia is in PK4. Liz is also an Apple Certified Teacher, Webmaster, Social Media Coordinator, and 2nd grade teacher at Altruria who over the past two years has trained our teachers in using the iPad in the classroom. We now have about eleven teachers and one principal who are Apple Certified Teachers. Here is Liz's answer to "Why St. Ann?"

When Mr. Aur asked me to write a blog entry discussing my thoughts about St. Ann, I felt immediately overwhelmed. How could I possibly fit all the amazing things I witness in one blog entry? Where do I even begin? He suggested I just start writing and let my thoughts fill the page. So, I guess I will start at the beginning.

Mrs. Harty visits Olivia at home

When you teach at an awesome school less than a mile away from St. Ann, you get hit with the “Why don’t you bring your kids to school with you?” question pretty regularly. My standard answer is, “We are Catholic, and St. Ann is our parish.” That gets most people to accept the answer, but some press on. We always hear, “Can’t they just go to Sunday school or PRE?” I guess they could, but honestly, it’s the people and the relationships at St. Ann that are pretty high up on the list of reasons why we continue to sign our kids up year after year.

JT was only supposed to go to St. Ann for preK and then to school with me for elementary. Mrs. Morgan and Mrs. Sexton changed that plan pretty quickly for us. I attended Catholic Schools growing up in New York and Ohio, and these two amazing women quickly reminded me how important a Catholic education really is. The St. Ann teachers, administrators, staff, and volunteers help shape my children’s lives, moral compass, and religious base that help us navigate through this crazy life. They get to capitalize on those teachable moments and bring God and prayer into every aspect of life. 

JT and Online Learning

Over the years, we have watched change, growth, and innovation blossom at our school. Father Ernie and Mr. Aur have outlined a clear course to a strong future for St. Ann School and a bright future for our kids as learners. I have had the privilege to work with the students of St. Ann for the past two summers at Camp Invention. Y’all, these kids are thinkers! These teachers are teaching these kids to think outside the box and really break the mold. I was amazed with the thinking, planning, and experimenting that took place in the Innovation Lab.

Now that I have covered the “Why St. Ann”, let me switch gears and tell you what I have witnessed in the adventure that is remote learning. The COVID-19 pandemic launched into our worlds pretty quickly. St. Ann teachers and administration left their spring breaks early to come to school and learn in about 48 hours how to continue teaching without being at school, how to create a blog, post to a blog, record lessons, use new tools, and make a plan to be ready to start Monday. The fact that every teacher had a blog and assignments ready to roll for first thing Monday morning was nothing short of a miracle. I checked in with teachers and Mr. Aur to see what I could do to help. Not one teacher had a bad attitude. They were all working together and helping each other do what needed to be done to make sure our kids didn’t miss one day of instruction. How incredible is that!

The St. Ann family has truly come together to make this quarantine a strangely beautiful time where every person is doing their part to keep the learning going. Parents and grandparents are helping explain lessons at home and helping kids get assignments submitted, teachers are planning amazing and engaging lessons, our kids are being provided with meaningful feedback on work and making stronger connections with teachers.

JT on the first day of school

I know it is easy as parents for us to feel overwhelmed (me, included!) and sometimes feel frustrated hawking the online grade book to see what remote grading even looks like or wondering when the next assignment will finally be posted. I hope that we all remember that the teachers are working harder than ever in a way none of us were trained for in our college studies. Thinking of creative ways to deliver lessons, posting online, meeting virtually, and then waiting on a steady stream of work being emailed in a variety of formats to organize, grade, and provide feedback. We have asked so much of the St. Ann teachers, and they keep showing up with a smile and a new lesson for our kids. I am in total awe with the magnitude of excellence in this remote learning adventure. 

Shout outs!

• From day one of the quarantine, Ms. Ostrowski asked every 6th grader to pray a rosary every day.
• Ms. Angotti’s remote PE class is fun and hilarious. I have watched JT do yoga with his class and play basketball with socks while racing against his buddies through Google Hangouts. 
• Mrs. Wendenon’s shadow art project looks amazing, and I totally want to try it. 
• Mrs. Langford easily doubles her time on Google Meets to make sure every student is really mastering the skills. (And they better be showing their work!)
• Mrs. Harty is having Google Hangouts with her class and even did remote calendar time with the kids. And when one kid is really sad because she can’t be in Mrs. Harty’s real classroom, she totally drove to our house for a safe, social distanced visit to cheer up my Olivia. 
• Mr. Gage has assigned the coolest, real world assignments for the middle school kids. They have corrected celebrities social media, created memes, and written creative stories. 
• Mr. Cooper has the kids singing and also critiquing music from around the world.
• Mr. Maranise shared a beautiful Easter meditation for the 8th graders because we can’t attend mass
• Ms. Ostrowski sends the most thoughtful emails giving her feedback on assignments. I LOVE listening to her religion and social studies class. Her enthusiasm in contagious, and she loves our kids.
• Mrs. Metaxas has such variety in her lessons, and her animated tree project is awesome. 
• Mr. Green got every middle school student set up with a working email address in a matter of days so kids and teachers can communicate daily.
• Ms. Ghio’s blog has been incredible since JT was in 3rd grade (and probably before!), but she still is finding new and innovative ways to teach.
• Ms. Sellers’ blog is filled with pictures of our littlest learners completing remote learning projects.
• Ms. Lola has got our kids creating beautiful artwork and pushing them to get creative in every project. 
• Mrs. Griffith answers every email and hangout message even when the emails are blank and the hangout messages from 6th graders are asking if it’s legal to pick up birds or just to tell her they are hungry. (God bless these middle school teachers. For real.)

Online with Mrs. Harty

I know this is just a sampling of amazing things happening from PK3 to 8th grade at St. Ann. I love seeing my Facebook feed filled with pictures from these learning adventures. We will all get through this together, and because of the amazing leader and teachers at St. Ann, our kids will be smarter, ready for the next grade level, and will have a stronger connection to their faith. 

Stay strong, hold the course, we’re all in this together!

Liz Wehmeyer

Thank you Liz for sharing. We appreciate your kind words. You help to make St. Ann a better school. You have been there for me and all the teachers. We cannot thank you enough for your constant smile and positive words.

God bless you,

Didier Aur, Principal

St. Ann Catholic School

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