RAYOS-788 Test Article 24

NEODESHA, Kan. – For 6th grade teacher Heather Newkirk, working from home has some obvious perks.

But while she’s able to spend more time with her kids, she’s missing others that she considers family.

“I am all about relationships, and it’s really hard to gauge how a student really is feeling over a video or over an email,” says Newkirk.

She’s been back to teaching since March 30th, after the district officially started its continuous learning plan.

“Well it’s always a good sign when I don’t receive phone calls. So that piece has been very nice. But, I’ve had a lot of positive comments,” says Neodesha School District Superintendent Juanita Erickson.

Students in second grade and above are using Chromebooks and Google classroom for assignments.

Younger kids are using learning packets with assigned lessons and some online stuff mixed in.

And doing video calls with Zoom has become the norm.

“I check in with my kids, my goal is to do it three times a week as a whole class, and then I do one on one kind of by appointment, so really just whenever they need it,” says Newkirk.

But, getting ready for a change like this didn’t just happen overnight. The district had to figure everything out from student online access, all the way down to figuring out what areas they were going to focus the most heavily on.

“As teachers, we really had to evaluate what is the most essential things you have left to teach this school year, and only focus on those,” says Newkirk.

And while it’s been a big adjustment, they are seeing some advantages.

“I’m able to really pinpoint individually what the kids are needing right now, which is something I didn’t necessarily have time for when I was worried about getting every lesson every day done,” says Newkirk.

Through the good and bad, teachers are working hard to keep their students’ learning on track.

“They will do whatever it takes for the good of our students,” says Erickson.

Erickson adds that the Neodesha Promise Scholarship hasn’t been impacted by the change.

And that things like the senior trip, prom, and graduation have been postponed, as opposed to canceled, so they can try to hold those events for students at a later date.