In recent weeks, the meaning of together has taken on new meaning. It’s even taking on new forms.

This is especially true for schools, who had to make a quick switch from in-person learning to remote learning in late March. Instead of learning together in a classroom with peers, students found themselves learning at the dinner table with siblings. 

But no matter where or how or what time students were engaging with their work, St. Joseph Elementary Principal Michelle Wagner wanted to continue to get together with students in the same way as she had while students were in school.

“This is my second year at the grade school and one of the things I wanted to do when I got there was to start our morning every day with everybody together so we were kind of like a family,” Wagner said. 

Students at St. Joseph Elementary knew that when they heard their principal’s voice come over the intercom with morning announcements, it was time to begin the learning day. 

“That’s kind of my favorite part of the day so I didn’t want to lose that,” she said. 

“With kids and parents trying to do the school thing at home, it’s not always easy. So I thought if I could put out a warning message, maybe that would be a good way to hook kids into settling down and wanting to do work at home.”

While morning announcements had to take on a new form with Wagner using a green screen and Zoom at home, broadcasting through Facebook, several staples, including the morning pledge remained the same:

“I pledge today to do my best in reading math and all the rest. I promise to obey the rules in my class and in my school. I’ll respect myself and others too. I’ll expect the best in all I do. I’ll keep our school clean and safe, come every day and not be late. I’m here to learn and I’ll say it loud, I will always be Panther proud.” 

Whether Wagner was walking the halls of St. Joseph Elementary or on a computer screen in the child’s living room, the hope is that all students know she is there for them.

“It was important for me that the students knew who I was so that if they had a problem, whether it was getting in trouble, or they needed to come and talk to me to help solve a problem that they saw my face every day and knew that I was approachable and then I knew who they were,” Wagner said.

Should the Panthers return to the school building in the fall months, Wagner may be more recognizable than ever. 

Over the last six weeks, she has engaged students with scenes from Australia and Antarctica, science experiments, Star Wars and Harry Potter. 

“If you’ve watched over time you can see I’ve gotten a little bit more inventive,” she said. “So that was kind of to keep me engaged too because it’s hard to do that day-after-day-after-day.”

Wagner has even enlisted the help of her 14-year old daughter who films and edits the announcements.

The piece missing for some students, though, is getting a pencil from their principal on their birthday. Wagner makes sure to include their name in the morning announcement, though.

“When (kids) miss the day and they don’t get their birthday pencil from school at school, they get really upset,” she said. 

“I can’t see them to give them the birthday pencil, but I can still shout out to them this way. 

“They think that they’re like movie stars. I’ve had a couple parents say, ‘You said Happy Birthday to them!’ They’re like ‘Wow, she just said my name on the computer!’ 

“I just hope that I can bring a smile to their face and let them know we’re still thinking about them.

“This was a good way for me to still keep that relationship going so that when we would come back, we still have that.”

The family atmosphere that the St. Joseph community is known for has led to very high remote learning numbers. Superintendent Todd Pence to the board of education recently that 90-percent of St. Joseph CCSD #169 students were participating in the packet or online opportunities provided by teachers.

Wagner said much of that has to do with the parents who are engaged with the child at home.

“They’re so invested,” Wagner said.

“I think they see that our teachers work hard every day and that  our teachers really truly care about their kids. And so I think we’re just all in, in this together.”

Preparing for a remote learning environment was not an easy task, though. When Gov. JB Pritzker made the first announcement that school would be canceled for two weeks, St. Joseph was just getting ready to go on spring break.

Wagner said the leadership team worked over their vacation time to put together ideas on how they might be able to move forward. 

Having tools, like Chromebooks, in place for students at the junior high school was key to getting older students ready. While fourth grade students at St. Joseph have Chromebooks, the younger students do not. 

As the district reached out to parents to ask if they would prefer online resources or paper packets, about 70-percent of parents said that they would prefer paper for the younger students. 

Teachers put together packets for parents to pick up at St. Joseph Elementary once every two weeks. The last pick-up was May 7. 

Thursday Mrs. Baccadutre, a first grade teacher, dressed up as Mrs. Frizzle from the Magic School Bus. The St. Joseph Panther has also made an appearance at packet pick up.

“We try to have a little bit fun while we’re out there,” Wagner said. “Sometimes we have music and we can dance as they go through the line. 

“At first we didn’t know what to expect. But a lot of the parents had their children with them in the backseat and their eyes just like you know light up when they see their teachers.

“We’d gone two weeks not seeing any of our kids. We didn’t know how they are doing with this or if they are scared or are they worried. So just that we can see them through the window of a car and smile and wave to them, it’s so awesome.”

The district has also been understanding, knowing that parents have a lot on their plate right now: multiple children at home, teaching subjects, getting work done while also providing meals, among other things.

Keeping open lines of communication has been key in the transition.

“This was just a time where we had to have that constant communication with our parents because we’re asking them to do something they didn’t go to college for, that most of them didn’t go to school to be a teacher and we’re sending this work home.”

The team component, the teachers telling the parent what they student knows or what they may need help on has been the backbone of St. Joseph’s recent success. 

“Our teachers have done a great job, reaching out to (parents) and communicating with them,” she said.

“More than anything I think it really was for the teachers to have the parent’s back so that the parent can say, ”You know what I just talked to the teacher and she says you know how to do this.”

The district also wanted parents to know that it was okay to miss a Zoom meeting or to not be on time with everything.

Remote learning will be completed for St. Joseph Elementary this week. And to end the two-months of distance learning, the district has planned a way to be together, if even at a distance, again. 

In the beginning, teachers approached Wagner with the idea of having a parade through town to see the students. But Wagner asked them to wait until the end of the school year.

“Normally at this time of year we’re doing a School Carnival, and we’re doing our field day and field trips at the end, and we’re not getting to do that,” she said. “So I said, ‘Let’s let’s hold off to the end and do it as a celebration that, thank goodness, we’re done with this, and hopefully we get to come back in the fall.”

On Friday (May 15) at 1 p.m., teachers in grades K-8 will line up and travel through St. Joseph, waving from vehicles to say goodbye for now to their students.

“The parade is really about celebrating the kids’ year; hoping that they understand that we’re celebrating them,” Wagner said. 

Parents and students told Wagner on Thursday that they were excited for the Friday parade. 

“It’s great to have the community that we have here,” Wagner said. 

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