Students are still working on school competitions, even in the pandemic.

For some local students, the work paid off with earning the right to go to nationals. However, the pandemic has stopped them from physically going to College Park, Maryland to the national competition.

“They were disappointed,” Fort Scott Junior High and High School Enrichment Teacher Angie Kemmerer said.

FSHS freshman Katelyn Leavell did a senior individual performance on unsung hero Anna Coleman Ladd titled: “Breaking the Barrier of Social Stigma: Anna Coleman Ladd and the First World War”.

“My project relates to this year’s theme because social stigma is one of the most prominent and hard to overcome barriers in society,” Leavell said. “My project focuses primarily on this barrier and the stigma of disabled WWI veterans. The barrier of social stigma based on physical disfigurements from combat was the hardest to break. Anna’s artistry and mask-making abilities covered the problem areas for a soldier so the world couldn’t see that part of them. With the newfound confidence, the men were able to find themselves and overcome that stigma. Though many were buried with their masks, they still had the confidence through their lives to go out into the world, unrestricted by physical barriers and social anxiety.”

The pandemic has changed the way students are taught across the world and locally as well.

USD 234 in Fort Scott started its’ continuous learning plan on March 30.

Fort Scott Middle School Sixth-Grade Reading and Language Arts Teacher Kathi Hall said the teachers met for several days over Zoom during that week to select essential subjects to be taught.

There would be digital learners and paper packets offered to the students for at-home learning, it was decided.

“We contacted each parent and found out the best way for their continuous learning through our Tiger Dens,” she said. “We started sending lessons on April 6.”

Tiger Dens is a social and emotional learning class that all the students have in middle school, she said.

Students who needed paper packets were because of no internet service, no device nor wanting to borrow one from the school, or their parents wanting them to only have paper packets, she said.

” I think this was one of the most challenging aspects of continuous learning because we as teachers didn’t have the opportunity…. to contact that student through their school email,” Hall said. “We do contact them through their parent’s phone or email to check-in!”

Teachers at FSMS continue to collaborate weekly and plan.

“Our teachers meet several times in the week in Zoom to connect, discuss any concerns or celebrations, and just continue to collaborate,” she said.

Teachers are available for their students and parents through their email or cell phone.

“Most of our teachers are teaching from home through their digital platforms such as Google Classroom, Zoom, and other educational apps that our staff agreed would be the best for the students,” Hall said. “We have had one or two teachers who have spotty or glitchy internet services because of where they reside so they will use their classroom.”

“When I think about the good that comes from our Covid19 situation and continuous learning with students not being in classrooms, there isn’t a whole lot of specifics that I can list as good.” she said. ” However, in any situation, you can find the good. I will say that one of the things that comes to mind is the way our school and district has pulled together as a strong unit.”

“Our lunch and transportation staff made a plan, organized it, looked it over for improvements once it was implemented, and then made it a better plan for our community to receive lunches in a safe and functional way,” Hall said.

“Our teachers and staff have pulled together in a tight organized way to make a plan to reach out to students and connect in a way no one has had to do before.”

“Our tech team has been working seamlessly in providing support, devices etc…for our district,” she said.

“For us at the middle school, our two principals have been on top of things supporting us and the parents/students in a way that feels amazing,” Hall said. “This is so different, new, and uncharted waters for everyone. Yet in a matter of days we begin to see the right decisions made and executed for everyone involved.”

“We definitely have challenges and I am speaking on behalf of our staff that this isn’t an ideal way to educate our students in a long term setting,” she said.

“One of the main challenges is student participation,” Hall said.  “Students at the age that we teach, rely on accountability. Their young minds need interaction, sociability, and academic practice (sometimes guided practice).”

“As teachers, it is challenging not to see the faces of our students as well,” she said. “We love our jobs, we are in the profession to change children’s lives through academics, social, and emotional connections.”

“Another challenge we can’t overlook is there are fears and problems (concerning Covid19) in a student’s home with parents out of work, reduced hours, family sick or ill, etc,” Hall said. “The social and emotional well being of our students is a concern. For some students, the school was a safe haven to escape their home lives of whatever is going on that is out of the norm and their control.”

The district is providing learning opportunities for students, not focusing on grades.

“The students who are connected digitally are having feedback on their assignments,” she said. “The teachers are ‘grading the assignment’ and giving feedback through our Google Classroom or email. The paper packets will be looked at once they are turned in.”

After 32 years as principal of Fort Scott Christian Heights and 14 years as a teacher before that, Terry Chance is retiring as of June 1.

Chance, 70, says his becoming an educator was a process of time.

“I felt like God wanted me to be involved full-time in a Christian ministry,” he said. “I got into music education and have been in education ever since.”

“John Page was our pastor and principal of Christian Heights and was my mentor,” Chance said. “He is my hero.”

Chance said he loves the interaction with students.

“It has been a thrill when they understand what you teach,” he said.

For him, seeing students go on from Christian Heights to serve their family, their community and their church, “That’s success,” he said.

The biggest challenge in his career has been the current pandemic that has closed down all schools in the nation.

“We are trying to figure out how to help our students right now,” Chance said.

Chance said he made up his mind to retire last summer and told the FSCH Board of Education in September.

The board has hired Larry Davolt as the new principal.

Davolt has been a science teacher at the school for 28 years.

Continuous Learning plans at USD234 were started the week of March 30, Superintendent Ted Hessong said.

“Each building rolled their plans out gradually throughout the week,” Hessong said.

“Since school buildings are closed for the remainder of the school year (following stay-at-home orders during the pandemic), school districts needed to come up with a way to provide continuous learning for our students to help them not only academically but also socially,” he said.

” Our principals worked with their Building Leadership Teams using the Continuous Learning Plans guidance from the Kansas Department of Education (KSDE),” he said. ” KSDE collaborated with teachers from all across the state of Kansas to help create these guidance documents to assist school districts. After meeting with their leadership teams, they then worked with the rest of their staff to create the Continuous Learning Plans.”

“Most of the teachers are teaching from home,” Hessong said. “We do have a few staff members who are working from their classrooms to provide Continuous Learning to our students.”

Each school building’s personnel contacted every student to see what they needed to be able to participate in Continuous Learning, he said and based on the feedback each received from the students, the staff worked to provide the necessary materials to be able to participate.

Grading for the new plan will be different.

” With the implementation of our Continuous Learning plans each building is handling grades a little different,” Hessong said. “Each building is keeping in mind what is in the best interest of our students during these uncharted waters of what school looks like today. Our teachers and administrators are demonstrating grace and understanding for all students to do what is best for our students.”

Hessong is thankful, he said.

“I want to thank all of our staff for their help to implement our Continuous Learning plans and our foodservice and support staff in providing meals for the students in our communities. With the assistance of our communities, the county, Kansas State Department of Education, Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Southeast Kansas  Health Department it has allowed our school district to navigate these uncharted waters to make the most of this health crisis.”