School board’s online summer learning includes real life backpacks (and pizza!)

Those of us who are middle aged or older, or not as tech-savvy as others, may imagine online learning as a gloomy, solitary experience, involving a ton of online reading, math and quizzes with nothing but a laptop, email and Facebook for companionship.

But that’s not the case.

While there is no substitute for conventional, face to face classroom learning, and while school board administrators across Ontario, in consultation with parents, teachers, health unit officials and others as to what route to take in delivering instruction in September, a Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board (H-SCDSB) educator says that board’s Summer Learning Program has been beneficial.

The rise of COVID-19, forcing students and educators to make the sudden adjustment to solely online learning from home in early 2020 and continuing throughout this summer, has shown something positive can come out of an unexpected worldwide health scare, said the H-SCDSB’s Nadia Kovacs.

Kovacs is the H-SCDSB's Summer Learning Program administrator and Our Lady of Lourdes French Immersion Catholic School vice principal in Elliot Lake.

All H-SCDSB Summer Learning online classes are no greater than 20 students in number, an online student’s school day consisting of synchronous learning between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. (with the exception of two classes which run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.), Monday to Friday.

Math and language classes are held through Google Meet, whereby students may see and communicate with each other and their teachers, with one on one instruction also provided.

“Experiencing the transition (suddenly, to online learning) in March (due to the province’s sudden COVID-19 lockdown) was a total transformation. We have 34 staff, including myself, to support this program and a lot of us can attest to the fact it was definitely a transition, but the students became so familiar with the Google platforms that they didn’t have to be reintroduced to them in July when we started Summer Learning,” Kovacs said, speaking to SooToday.

The board’s Summer Learning Program began July 6 and continues to July 24.

Approximately 140 students, from Senior Kindergarten to Grade 8, are enrolled.

“I’m really pleased to see that number,” Kovacs said.

“I didn’t know what to expect because it was going to be delivered fully online, and in this way parent engagement is so critical for the success of these students, and I’m really happy to see that within all our communities the students are learning from each other (right across the Sault and Algoma region).”

“It’s a very diverse group,” Kovacs said.

H-SCDSB Summer Learning Program students are, for the most part, from Sault Ste. Marie, but others are located in communities such as Elliot Lake, Blind River, Espanola, Massey, Wawa and Chapleau.

Likewise, program staff are located throughout the Huron-Superior district. 

There are eight teachers, assisted by four learning engagement teachers, six tutors and skill builders and one Indigenous support worker included on the 34-person Summer Learning educational team, Kovacs said.

The board, Kovacs said, is pleased to have Sudbury’s Science North involved in the program.

“Each class is assigned a blue coat (a term for Science North educators), which is really awesome, and they have multiple meetings and activities with this blue coat throughout the week, one of the activities being ‘ask a scientist’ and there’s also a weekly science show Friday mornings which students can participate in. It’s very engaging.” 

There are also plenty of opportunities for students to get up from their seats, stretch their legs and take part in physical activities with their virtual classmates.

“There’s a hip hop dance class, a fitness class…Ryan McFarling (Sault magician) is doing some magic and illusion sessions for students. We also have Amelia Steutz from Elite Dance Force, Sheila Paluzzi from The Healing Loft has provided two recorded webinars for parent support, and also from The Healing Loft, Sarah Fratesi is offering yoga classes, Anne-Marie Caicco is offering Tableau workshops. There’s a lot offered,” Kovacs said.

Students who were given access to Google Chromebooks for the sudden switch to online learning, from March to June, have been able to hold on to those same devices for the summer.

“They (the students) are so excited to learn, and the parent engagement has been amazing. There has been very positive feedback from students and parents. I can say the Grades 7 and 8 students have said this was way beyond (better) than what they expected this to be, which is great. At first, from a parent’s perspective, they were a bit hesitant to be a part of it but now they’re so engaged, and I think having Science North involved (is beneficial),” Kovacs said.

“We also did some backpack deliveries for all students in the program which took place last weekend, the backpacks filled with Summer Learning program T-shirts, frisbees, markers, pencils, pencil crayons, activity books, and the response to that was fantastic.”

There is also a Summer Learning Program pizza night.

“Every community is different in how students get their pizza. In Sault Ste. Marie, we’re working with Fratelli’s. We feel food is very important, a big draw for the program, so Fratelli’s is offering us pizza kits that students can order online and have delivered to their houses, and families can make pizza together. It’s a lot of parent engagement and lots of learning is involved with that. They can create and share a meal together,” Kovacs said.

“It’s cool. They take pictures of what’s happening and they share them with their classmates. It’s a lot of fun.”

“I think this program is really demonstrating a lot of the positives that can come from a virtual learning environment,” Kovacs said. 

“We’re proving there are positive possibilities and that students are learning. We feel the success and we can see the growth and progress of students and it’s challenged us (as educators) to think outside the box in what we’re delivering, program wise and initiative wise. We can still offer recreation activities for the students, Science North can be involved in our programming, and we can still offer ways for families to work with their children.”

“We weren’t sure what it was going to become. It’s so new. We were starting with nothing to compare it to, but look at what we’ve created from it. It could have been a total flop, a big struggle, but the synchronous learning is what is solidifying this whole program,” Kovacs said.

“The students are starting to understand the social etiquette of learning online, when to mute and unmute yourself...all of these life skills are coming out of this.”

“I was a little skeptical at first on how it would work for the Kindergarten students, but it has been so great,” testified Jo-Anne Graham, a H-SCDSB early childhood educator in the Summer Learning Program, in a written statement. 

“Our students have been so energetic and interested each day. The synchronous live learning is fantastic, being able to see the students and teach a live lesson has really helped keep the students focused and engaged. It has been a really great experience, and I can't wait to bring all that I have learned back into my classroom in the fall,” Graham wrote.

“The engagement, commitment and positive feedback from students and families has been amazing,” wrote Stephanie Vendramin, a St. Francis French Immersion School Grades 5 and 6 teacher, involved in Summer Learning as one of four learning engagement teachers.

“It has been terrific to see all of the smiles and motivation the students are demonstrating towards such fun and engaging learning opportunities. In addition to all of the literacy and numeracy resources, the students also really enjoy participating in cultural and recreational activities the SLP has to offer as well,” Vendramin wrote.