The Benedict News Spring 2021 Edition

Students are reacting well to the program,
faculty said.
“Conversio has helped me with my life and
helped me concentrate more in my classes
rather than being distracted at home,” said
Erick Gonzalez UD1.
Participating students are improving their
academic performance.
“Overall, grades are getting better and positive
results are coming from teachers,” said
Mr. Sylvers Owusu, one of the teachers who
has been actively working with Conversio
students. “This shows that we are gaining
back motivation and community that we
once had before the pandemic and it feels
like we are slowly getting it back.”
School officials started Conversio at the beginning
of Fall Term.
Students from the Boys Division “attend”
their classes virtually, via laptops, from the
cafeteria, while members of the Girls Division
do the same from the library.
The biggest challenge in starting the program
was convincing parents to overcome
their fear of COVID-19 and trust school officials
to have safeguards in place. “Parents
and students are rightfully anxious,” Mr.
Rowe said. “You just have to watch the news
to know that this is a very real health threat
and parents are cautious about their kids
coming back to school.”
Fears abated once students started to attend
regularly. “I think that the students see the
value in it and continue to come regularly,”
Mr. Rowe said.
In the morning during school days, Conversio
students attend online classes until
1 p.m., eat lunch, and then participate in a
structured study hall.
“During that time we help them with any
work for academics and make time for them
to have after-school sessions with their
teachers,” Mr. Owusu said. “Some kids are
improving. Some need more motivation
and, to help them improve, we need to pay
more attention to them.”
Conversio students are required to undergo
COVID-19 testing every other week at the
school’s test center in the HAB gym.
There have also been some unintended benefits
from Conversio.
“A lot of the freshmen didn’t have the
Overnight,” said Ms. Sheib, noting the
cancellation of the Overnight and some
other in-person freshmen experiences due
to the pandemic. “They missed having
much of the stuff that normally takes place
and so they couldn’t really form or build
those relationships and bonds with each
other, which is you know super important at
Benedict’s.”
Conversio, Ms. Sheib said, has given some
students an unexpected opportunity to form
friendships.
The program has also given administrators
insight on how to manage the eventual transition
back for the entire student body.
“I think it gave us the opportunity to test the
waters to bring guys back in a safe, effective
way kind of incrementally,” Mr. Rowe said.
“The students took to that immediately as if
they never left.”
Conversio has also brought together students
who may normally not be in the same
class.
“Guys who might ordinarily participate in
the life of the community in different ways
-- guys on different teams who may not normally
cross paths with each other -- have the
opportunity to interact during Conversio,”
Mr. Rowe said. “I think at the end of the day
it strengthens community.”
Photo by Erick Garcia
In Conversio, students come to the property to avoid
distractions and to improve academically.
11 Issue 2 Volume 3 Spring 2021