Celtic Newsletter Spring 2020

Roanoke Catholic thrives amid COVID - 19

March 13 should have been the dawn of a glorious spring for Roanoke Catholic School. That afternoon, hundreds of runners from across the region were supposed to arrive to pick up race packets for the next day ’ s 30th annual Shamrock Hill Run. The track team was set to practice as they prepared for the start of their season in which the boys ’ squad sought to defend their 2019 state championship. Celtics soc- cer, softball, baseball, lacrosse and golf had practices too. The Celtic Singers were to continue re- hearsing for a long - awaited trip to New York City two weeks later to participate in a Catholic high school choir music festival for which they ’ d worked all year. Holy Week and Easter Break were right around the corner, with Prom a few weeks later, followed by AP exams, Scholarship Dinner, Field Day, Honors Day, and the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL. And for the Class of 2020, a litany of cherished traditions await- ed. Instead, Friday, March 13, was the last day we saw each other in person. But seeing, as we all quickly learned, isn ’ t everything. Over the course of the weekend that followed, our teachers accomplished what took many college professors more than a week to achieve: moving their in - class cur- riculum online. By Monday, March 16, every grade level — from 3 - year - old Early Learners to seniors — had a virtual classroom plan in place. Administrators trouble - shot with Roanoke Catholic families who lacked reliable Inter- net and computers at home, distributing Google Chromebooks and wifi “ hotspots ” to technology - challenged households. “ Teaching virtually was a challenge due to coming up with material and resources that all my students could access, ” said middle school math teacher Helen Price. “ Not only digital and paper copies of the work but also the information on how to complete the assignments. While most stu- * * *

Junior Kindergarten teacher Amber Lavinder stays virtually connected with her students during coronavirus pandemic.