The Underground Workshop is VTDigger’s new platform for student journalism. This four-part article is a piece of collaborative reporting that explores the choices and challenges Vermonters face during this period of remote learning. The pieces were written by Josie Gawrys of Castleton University, Olivia Belrose of Bellows Free Academy in St. Albans, and Ben Bourgeois of U-32 High School in East Montpelier.
Part One: College Without the Campus
by Josie Gawrys, Castleton University
Jana DeCamilla wakes up her 4-year-old son Cire at 4 a.m. They head out to the shared car to pick up DeCamilla’s boyfriend from his job at a Target warehouse. During the day, he will sleep while DeCamilla helps her son with online preschool and manages her own online school work as well.
When Castleton University made the decision to go fully online with the option to live on- or off-campus, many students faced the toughest choice of their college career.
Some are dependent on the housing the school provides, some needed a job to live on campus, some are still living at home with their parents, and some are parents themselves. For students living at home, life is complicated.
DeCamilla juggles the responsibilities of being a parent with her job and her education.
“Like, oh my gosh I’m home, but I have to go to the gas station, I have to go to the grocery store, and I have an appointment,” she said, “and now I have this meeting, and I’ve got to be back here, and I’m on Zoom in the car.”
But for most students, the biggest factor in living off-campus?
Money.
Anna DiFiore is a first-semester transfer student learning remotely this fall.
“I simply wanted to save the money,” she said, “so I could have more to put towards my education in the long run.”
Senior Brendan Crowley agreed. He didn’t feel it was worth sitting alone in a dorm all semester when he could be saving money by living at home.
For other students, though, the biggest concern was about the pandemic. Cydney Krone, a senior, chose to stay home.
“This is new to all of us,” she said. “And I didn’t feel comfortable leaving it up to the college staff, if I should go back or not.”
Will Buck, who is living with his aunt and uncle in California, is a medically high-risk individual for the virus.
With so many people from different places, “the risk is probably a bit higher than it normally would be” than if he was sitting at home all day.
Although these students feel they made the right decision, they’re facing struggles. A typical day for a remote student includes hours of Zoom meetings, juggling homework with chores, errands and jobs, competing with siblings and family members for a stable internet connection, and trying to find ways to socialize safely.
Some students are responsible for watching their siblings or children of their own. Some have part-time or full-time jobs. And on top of all of their home responsibilities, they have their online classes.
DiFiore, the first-semester transfer, currently balances school with two part-time jobs at a mini-golf course and cleaning homes.
“On my least busy days, I only have to worry about school and attending Zoom sessions or I only have to worry about working,” she said. “Those are the best days.”
Senior Cydney Krone said the monotony of sitting in your room all day, attending class on the computer and then doing homework on the computer, can be mind-numbing.
“They wake up, they do classes all day, they do homework, and then they go to bed, and it’s on repeat,” Krone said. “It’s so easy to get tired of your screen.”
And the academic side of remote learning is no less forgiving.
“I’m in a different time zone,” Buck said. “Due dates are three hours earlier, class times are three hours earlier.”
Difficulty with time management is exacerbated by online courses. When you’re not meeting in person, it’s easy to stack too much on your plate.
DeCamilla does classwork in her living room while her boyfriend rests from working all night.
Balancing every responsibility can be draining or even overwhelming for students, especially as their workloads increase. Many students pointed out they’re feeling the pressure with finals quickly approaching.
Krone emphasizes that, in times like this, it’s vital to set boundaries and put yourself first, as we’re on “shaky territory.”
For sophomore Mason Parece, a big struggle with living at home is that she’s missing out on opportunities. As a theater major, her department can’t put on any productions or provide the same experience an in-person semester can.
“Anybody that has hands-on classes is completely disadvantaged because we are missing that experience,” Parece said.
Photo courtesy of Mason Parece.
She also spoke about theater’s collaborative nature, calling it “one of the biggest parts of theater.”
Another missing feature in the college experience is socialization.
“At first it wasn’t too bad,” Crowley said, “but then you start to see the pictures of everyone, all your friends up on campus.”
Students have largely tried to remain positive despite an unfamiliar and challenging semester. As of November, Castleton only had 2 cases of Covid-19 at the start of the semester. Those who aren’t graduating look forward to next semester, when Castleton plans to switch to hybrid learning.
“It’s definitely bittersweet,” Crowley said, “but we’re making the best out of it for sure.”
Part Two: A Teacher’s View
by Olivia Belrose, BFA St. Albans
Jennifer Hindes, a teacher in the Missisquoi Valley School District, would normally be reading Warp Speed aloud to her sixth-grade class after lunch. This year, she’s delivering two hours of content per day via Zoom, recording read-alouds, and emailing students during office hours.
She’s also taking a nine-credit course on remote education and teaching World History via Google Meet to a class of 14 fully virtual seventh- and eighth-graders from around Vermont.
After 26 years teaching on a team at Swanton Elementary School, Hindes made the decision to teach on a fully remote basis via Vermont Virtual Learning Academy, an online program for elementary to high school-aged students, because of personal health concerns relating to Covid-19.
Teachers have had to learn to navigate many challenges in the remote world of teaching.
“In the beginning, I felt like I was building a plane as I was flying it,” she said. “I’m like a stewardess who finally found the coffee, and now I have to figure out how to use the coffee maker.”
How can you turn an in-person classroom into a virtual classroom? Hindes has worked hard to make sure her students have something to look forward to outside of routine schoolwork.
In school, students would normally have the opportunity to buy books and earn points for a reward: any book they want. To create a sense of normalcy and classroom community, Hindes sent out book orders for her students.
While she’s found her students to be motivated and eager to learn, what they’re really longing for is peer connection. They want to be part of a group. Her goal isn’t just to teach a class, but also to help her students connect. For example, if multiple students are absent, she will encourage them to meet with her as a group and work together on what they missed.
Hindes says it’s all about trying to teach kids how to work solo and collaboratively by laying out expectations and instruction. “It’s like putting on a new pair of shoes and breaking them in,” she said.
Hindes also prioritizes the individual needs of students and families.
“One of my students has been recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and she’s been feeling overwhelmed with school and taking care of herself,” Hindes said. “She jumped on a Zoom call and we were able to work.”
Hindes also checks in routinely with parents who may need some support. In person or remote, parents need to know how their children are adapting to this new normal.
“Families are very appreciative when they can put a face to a phone number or an email. I’m not that comfortable in front of a camera, but I accept it for what it is because they need to see me,” Hindes said. “It can’t just be lessons pushed out on a screen with nothing behind it.”
Hindes has worked hard to develop relationships with her students and families, but there is still a lot of challenge and uncertainty.
While Hindes is not totally isolated from her colleagues, working and collaborating with other teachers is a scarce opportunity. Some school districts have created chats for virtual teachers to collaborate with each other, but other teachers have been totally secluded, with limited experience with certain subjects and/or grade levels.
With Hindes being the only remote teacher for sixth grade in her district, she has to plan for every subject to suit her students’ academic needs.
Even with paced lessons in Google slides, Hindes knows she can’t just push assignments on students without prior instruction. After the shift to remote learning last spring, she’s had to revisit prerequisite skills, and extend lesson plans beyond the expected time frame, so kids can work through the content.
Hindes emphasized the importance of recognizing boundaries for students and teachers and not pushing people beyond their limits:
“There’s a fine balance between overwhelming them and not giving them enough,” Hindes said.
Part 3: Virtual High School
by Olivia Belrose, of BFA St. Albans
While Jennifer Hindes has worked hard to meet the needs of her students and families, high school students have made their own adaptations for a virtual environment.
Emmanuel Chippanelli (’22), a student enrolled in Virtual High School, an online program for international high school students, would’ve been entering his junior year at Bellows Free Academy, but he made the decision to learn remotely full time this year due to family health concerns and his success with online learning last spring.
“They really try to create an in-class experience,” Chippanelli said. “It’s pretty intuitive, and their system has worked well for me.”
Chippanelli says Virtual High School students check in only once a day, then complete a series of notetaking assignments, working through the content by themselves. If a student needs academic assistance, he or she can email teachers and expect a response within a day. While Virtual High School requires only core academic classes, students are still pretty busy with a heavy workload. For many students, time management has been a challenge.
While Chippanelli has adjusted well to the online expectations, being isolated from peers has made remote learning a lonely experience.
“I really miss the interaction with people I know,” he said. “I still see people through cross country, but I miss people I don’t see that often.”
Taylor Reyome (’22) was also enrolled in Virtual High School after a successful experience with remote learning. In the spring, Reyome found that she was able to finish all of her schoolwork right away, with the most of the week off. However, choosing a fully remote program for the fall was not what she expected.
In Reyome’s experience, there were no live Zoom meetings, but there were a lot of group projects and discussion boards that required students to create and reply to other posts from around the world.
“I was talking to a student from Yemen and giving them feedback on their post,” Reyome said.
Even with good self-direction, time management skills and the ability to create her own schedule, Reyome was too overwhelmed by the workload.
“I would be doing work for seven hours straight and forget to eat food because I was working on the homework so much,” Reyome said.
After nearly a month of learning in an isolated environment, Reyome made the decision to go back to BFA for her Junior year.
“I wanted to keep my family safe,” Reyome said, “but even with good self-direction, I needed the in-person interaction.”
Part 4: A Seventh-Grader At Home
by Ben Bourgeois, of U-32 High School
Photo courtesy of Jimmy Churchill.
It is 8 a.m. James “Jimmy” Churchill is just getting ready for the day. He heads downstairs still groggy and grabs his notebooks, computer and writing utensils from the kitchen counter.
Most students normally go outside to the school bus. Jimmy goes up to his room to get ready for the day.
Jimmy’s family decided he would complete this school year from the safety of their home. He is a seventh-grader from Middlesex, just starting his time at U-32 Middle and High School. Seventh grade is usually a time of excitement and anxiety, a time of personal growth and new experiences. Jimmy’s remote learning presents many challenges, but his family has been able to work together to stay safe and at ease.
Jimmy’s family did not deem it safe to return to school this fall. For their family to be comfortable, Jimmy’s mother needs a little more certainty. “I don’t want to say a vaccine,” she said, “but something that has almost 100% chance of survival, whatever that may be.” Jimmy shares her perspective. “Most people can follow the rules,” he said, “but with school it’s that 1% who don’t that worries me.”
He gets into view of the camera for his first Zoom call of the day. He hears the teacher before he sees her, saying, “Good morning, class.” His remote day begins.
The first class of the day is Teacher Advisory, which is a small group of kids and a teacher that he stays with throughout middle and high school. Shortly after, he has what is known as a “special,” such as physical education. Afterward, he has a short Zoom call with his whole literacy class, a virtual class where all attendees are online. Later there is lunch for 30 minutes.
Jimmy and his mother both are mainly home now. He makes his lunch and either eats by himself or with his mom. After lunch he has two other classes, social studies and science, with a break in between them, and the day is over. After school he has other activities, such as reading, archery and biking.
Jimmy is doing a good job with all of his classes but still has some struggles. One challenge is his band class. There are no Zoom calls for the course. He is taking it completely through a new online program called Canvas, and there is no teacher to support one-on-one learning.
“I don’t really understand band class right now,” he said. “I don’t have a time set for it, so it does not fit in with the school’s schedule.”
The main challenge with home learning is the isolation. Jimmy is an only child and spends almost all his time with his parents. Jimmy has seen a few people through D&D, and a group of them have come over some nights to hang around in the backyard. Other than that, Jimmy has had no interactions with other people.
“I may have read the D&D books twice. Now I have read them 10 times,” he said. “It’s just nice to look forward to something.”
