Grove City Messenger - August 23rd, 2020

PAGE 2 - GROVE CITY MESSENGER - August 23, 2020
Many studies have shown that children form habits by
the time they’re 9 or 10 years old. That means there is a
relatively short window of time to ingrain good practices in
children. While it’s important to teach manners, healthy
eating and personal responsibility, it’s also a smart idea to
teach kids why and how to care for the environment. The
earlier they start recycling and engaging in other sustainability
practices, the more likely they are to carry those
habits into adulthood.
To encourage at-home learning, SWACO has created a
page on its website just for kids between the ages of 6 and
12 years old. It’s called “Kids Corner,” and it features four
online games designed to teach children how to reduce,
reuse and recycle. According to SWACO, the organization
vetted the games carefully to ensure they’re fun,
educational, age appropriate, easy to play and relevant
to Franklin County’s recycling program. The
games are:
• Steel Driver — Kids help clean up the city by
collecting recyclable materials made of steel and
adding them to the recycling truck.
• Litter Critters — Four little critters teach kids
www.columbusmessenger.com
In Education
Kids Corner aims to teach children early recycling habits
God Bless Everyone
& Stay Safe at Home
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Mask and water bottle drive
The South-Western City Schools Educational
Foundation is hosting a mask and water bottle drive to
benefit district students. The foundation is collecting
SWCS
Continued from page 1
dated that all school buildings close in order to slow
the spread of a novel coronavirus. The participation in
the exit survey was high, officials said, and the
response to their experience with remote learning was
varied.
“Overall, I would say that the parents who responded
to the survey were appreciative of the efforts of our
teachers,” said David Stewart, the district’s deputy
superintendent, “but they were not afraid to say that
there was room for improvement.”
He said at that time, the most challenging aspect of
the remote model was the rapid transition between inperson
instruction to the virtual setting.
“While our teachers do have familiarity with the
tools that are used in a remote setting, very few had
experience with purely remote learning,” he said.
That gap in training, he said, led to some frustration
with teachers, students and parents.
“We were all navigating this new setting as it came,
so we gave everyone room to adapt,” Stewart said. “We
told them to do the best that they could with what they
knew at the time and I think they all did a fantastic
job at adapting to a medium that flies against the
nature of what they are all used to.”
However, he did state that more training and
improvements to the remote model were needed if they
wanted that experience to “go more smoothly.”
One of the steps the district took in making the
process easier to handle, said Stewart, was to purchase
more devices for student instruction.
With funds provided by the federally approved
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act,
the board of education purchased enough
Chromebooks for each student who needs a device.
“When we transitioned to remote learning near the
end of the school year, each household was given one
device,” said Stewart. “This proved to be an issue for
some as there were multiple children needing to access
the device.”
He said for the 2020-2021 school year, each student
who requests a device will receive one. He added at the
Aug. 10 board of education meeting that they will all
come with security features in place.
The district will also provide hot spots to households
with limited to no internet access.
to sort materials into four categories: recyclables, compost,
electronic waste and landfill waste.
• Recycle Roundup — Kids help Gus the gorilla clean up
a park by sorting the trash people left behind into three
categories: trash, recyclables and compost.
• Recycle City — This game encourages kids to visit different
parts of a fictional city to see how people and businesses
reduce, recycle and reuse waste.
Kids can play the games alone or with their parents.
Either way, kids will learn about the importance of diverting
waste from the landfill. SWACO’s hope is that once
kids learn about recycling, they’ll adopt the practice, and
recycling will become just another part of families’ daily
routines. For more information or to check out Kids
Corner, visit SWACO.org.
around town
new face masks and reusable water bottles. Those
interested in donating can drop the items off at any of
the fire stations located within the school district. The
stations will have big brown boxes to collect the items.
In regards to training, Stewart said the educators
in the district went “above and beyond” to familiarize
themselves with the intricacies of remote learning.
“We had a summer program for the elementary
level and over 1,000 teachers participated in the
offered courses,” he said. Further extensive instruction
will be provided from Aug. 24-26.
In addition to training, the district has also made
requirements of the educators. For instance, teachers
will be using Google Classroom as the primary learning
management tool, which makes it easier for parents
and students to access. Teachers will also be
required to provide live interaction in conjunction with
pre-recorded sessions.
“One of the things parents told us is that their kids
needed to see their teachers, that they needed that
face-to-face instruction,” said Stewart. “Due to our current
situation, we cannot offer in-person learning at
this time but we can offer a better opportunity for live
interactions via remote learning.”
Another requirement for Remote Learning 2.0 is
the establishment of “office hours” for parents where
they can speak to their children’s teachers and ask
questions about instruction; parents whose children
are in the Individualized Education Program will also
be able to access time to speak about instruction or
intervention. At the board meeting, Superintendent
Dr. Bill Wise said there will be some opportunity for
IEP students to come into the buildings for extra support
services.
Also included at the meeting was board approval of
the Responsible Restart Plan and the Remote
Learning Plan. Board member Anthony Caldwell
asked how long it would take to transition to the
hybrid model should coronavirus data prove favorable
and allow for modified in-person instruction; Wise said
that they could make the transition within a week.
The board also approved a one-year contract extension
with members of the Ohio Association of Public
School Employees (OAPSE). According to Sandra
Nekoloff, the district’s director of communications,
there are approximately 880 OAPSE members and
their duties range from aides, bus drivers, cooks,
IT/computer technicians and maintenance. They will
receive a 2.5 percent base wage increase.