'Soft opening' designed to help parents with challenges of online learning

OTHELLO — School will be in session next week in the Othello School District, and teachers and staff will be in the buildings. But the kids won’t be there – the school year will start online.

Hiawatha Elementary ELL (English language learners) teacher Nicki Wilkins said it’s just not the same. “It’s going to be very different when it’s quiet,” Wilkins said. “The vibe is very, very different when there are no children running around the buildings.”

Of course, the buildings are empty of children as the result of official efforts to combat the coronavirus outbreak, which closed all schools statewide in March. Students finished the school year online.

It was a new experience for teachers and families alike, and Hiawatha Elementary principal Will von Bracht said it wasn’t always easy. “We had to learn a lot of new techniques, and (schools) as well as families had to just figure out to maintain this and get this going,” von Bracht said.

“Luckily, coming into the fall, we had a lot more time to consider it, to get systems up and going,” von Bracht said. But parents, students and teachers still remembered the spring. So district officials borrowed a concept from retail.

Parents and kids were invited in for what district officials called a “soft opening.” Students and their grownups come to school and meet the teacher, and teachers show them how to use all that technology. “We actually have them bring their computers, or we give them a computer if they don’t yet have one, get them logged into the programs they’re going to need to access, so that they’re all ready to go,” von Bracht said.

Wilkins is a mom as well as a teacher. “My children will be with their grandmothers, who have never Zoomed before in their lives,” she said. The individual attention gives parents and caregivers a chance to learn about how that technology works.

It’s a new school year, which means new teachers. “This lets them get to know their new teacher face to face,” von Bracht said.

Wilkins said she thought the in-person meeting was very important, as a teacher and a mom. “I’m very grateful for that. I think that’s a big difference, that we’re able to see each other and make that connection in person first.”

The situation in the spring left parents with some questions and concerns, von Bracht said, and the first step in the conference is to ask parents and students about their experiences in the spring. “What are your concerns? What are you anxious about?” he said.

The soft opening conferences also are designed to help families figure out how to make the online learning fit their circumstances. Van Bracht cited the case of a student with younger brothers and sisters whose parents will be working during the day. Teachers worked with him to figure out how he could stay current with his schoolwork while helping his brothers and sisters.

Despite the upheavals, von Bracht said he thought the situation might provide some lasting benefit. “It’s pushed us a lot to communicate with parents,” he said.

“It (the pandemic) is a thing that nobody ever said, ‘Oh, I want to live that.’ But the collaboration that’s going to come out of it is going to change our community for the better. I really believe so,” Wilkins said.

“I’ve never seen kids so excited to get back in the school building,” von Bracht said.