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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (May 15, 2020)
PAGE A6, KEIZERTIMES, MAY 15, 2020 KeizerCommunity KEIZERTIMES.COM Sustaining school spirit when there’s no school BY MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes When Gov. Kate Brown announced last month the cancellation of all in-per- son classes for the remainder of the school year, teachers and faculty around the Sa- lem-Keizer School District were challenged with the task of trying to teach virtually. One of the big aspects of virtual learning is making sure that the school commu- nity remains in connection with each other. Ashley Gru- ber, Lexxy Johnson and Todd Layton have played big roles in fostering those connec- tions at McNary for the last two months. “The work of these three has been instrumental in helping our school have meaningful connections,” McNary principal Erik Jes- persen said. Gruber, Johnson and Lay- ton are all teachers at Mc- Nary and have been heavily involved in informing kids and parents as to what’s hap- pening with the school — and it goes much deeper than making sure kids are turning in their assignments on time. “We have been trying to put together more of a cohe- sive connection for the entire school body,” Layton said. “The idea is that we’re try- ing to reach out to every kid and make sure that they un- derstand that McNary is here for them.” One of the biggest points-of-emphasis has been the graduating seniors. John- son, who is the activities di- rector at the school and runs student government, has her senior offi cers meet with a graduation committee twice per week — the committee is made up of teachers and administrators. “We have a lot of people that interact, then we have a better feel for what’s coming up,” Johnson said. “The biggest goal of the seniors is to still feel like there is stuff to look forward to for their senior year and it’s not just fi nished in the spring. So we are all trying to create that school spirit atmosphere Submitted McNary teachers and administrators pulled out as many stops as possible to create a celebra- tory atmosphere when students picked up their caps and gowns last week. It’s just one way schools have had to adapt traditional school activities to the pandemic. even within distance learning community,” Johnson said. Johnson and the senior offi cers also created student bios for seniors on the Mc- Nary 2020 Instagram page — which is run by Gruber — highlighting where kids will be attending college and what they plan to study. “They wanted to celebrate their next steps, which is why they have done those student bios,” Johnson said. Johnson also had her students make a video for Teacher Appreciation Week earlier this month to show their support for the teach- ers at the school that have worked so hard to maintain balance in the midst of chaos. “Many of our teachers have done a tremendous job reaching out to kids,” Lay- ton said. “It’s been good to engage and support all our teachers here.” M emorial C enters ◆ C remation & B urial Simplicity - Convenience - Low Cost simple cremation simple direct burial church funeral ◆ $795 ◆ $995 ◆ $2965 Salem Portland Eastside 275 Lancaster Dr. SE Salem, OR 97317 832 NE Broadway Portland, OR 97232 1433 SE 122nd Ave. Portland, OR 97233 (503) 581-6265 (503) 783-3393 (503) 783-6865 Tualatin Tigard Milwaukie 8970 SW Tualatin Sherwood Rd. 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RECYCLING & DISPOSAL, INC. 503.393.2262 503.585.4300 Along with running Mc- Nary’s multiple social media pages, Gruber is in charge of putting content on the recently revamped McNary website — which features parent resources, a news and updates section and a feature that allows students to speak with a virtual counselor. “It’s about fi guring out what stuff should go on what platforms. Parents are on Facebook probably more than Instagram. We want to make sure that we get the in- formation out to all the dif- ferent places,” Gruber said. Gruber is in her fi rst year as the media production teacher at McNary, while Layton teaches graphic de- sign and Johnson teaches so- cial studies. Virtually teaching classes like media production and graphic design has turned out to be twice as hard according to Gruber and Layton, par- tially due to kids not having access to certain software that was needed. But that doesn’t stop them from working hard to pro- vide engaging and interactive assignments for their kids. “I want to make the projects fun so when they look back on this time, they will remem- ber the class being fun and engaging and something that helped them through this tough time,” Layton said. W h e n Gruber’s students meet over Zoom, they are required to introduce their pets and are given extra credit if they are wearing an animal onesie. “It’s a whole new world of teaching but it’s fun to con- nect with the kids and see what they are creating and coming up with,” Gruber said. “I just want to engage with them and make things feel more normal.” Through this process, Layton has been remind- ed, thanks to multiple mes- sages from his students, how important the job of a teacher is, not just for giv- ing instruc- tion, but also for the way teachers fos- ter and facili- tate meaningful relationships with their students. “You don’t know how much you’re missed. The messages that the kids have sent about missing school, it helps me realize how import- ant our jobs are,” Layton said.
