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@Collegian_GCC @gcc.collegian The Collegian: The GCC Newspaper Friday, February 26, 2021
Throckmorton shares his side hustle
Campus club creates culture
Collegian The Award-Winning Grove City College Student Newspaper
Vol. 106, No. 15
COVID learning curve Virus leaves students behind
Lauren Ness Copy Editor
Student teachers are learning to navigate and close the “learning gap” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as students spanning all ages lost months of learning when schools discontinued in-person classes and transitioned online. As schools have transitioned to in-person classes
or a hybrid of both in-person and online learning, challenges of maintaining student engagement and consistent learning arise. “This learning gap is unique and is certainly evident,” senior Walter Chevalier, a student teacher in a hybrid ninth grade U.S. history class at Grove City Area High School, said. Senior Katie Clarey, who is student teaching fully in-
person in kindergarten at Oakview Elementary School, said her friends who are teaching in first-grade classrooms are teaching almost the same material she is. Masking policies balanced with “mask breaks,” social distancing and students going in and out of quarantine certainly change approaches to in-person learning. However, online learning has not gone away and seems to
be where the largest gaps in knowledge result. A lack of structure when students are learning from home and the challenges of staying motivated cause the most difficulty. Senior Jesse Belitz commented, “If a student does not have something intrinsically driving them to put in the effort, they fall behind. Without structure and routine, most students crumble
in online learning.” Belitz is teaching fifth grade math for Butler Middle School’s cyber option. Belitz mentioned some strategies teachers use to boost student engagement and provide structure when online, like “requiring cameras on in class, encouraging students to visit office hours for extra support and providing structured ‘checklists’ for LEARNING 3
Beloved alumna passes away
Spring it on
Collegian Staff
Warmer weather this week brings a promise of spring to a winter-weary campus.
MATT SCHOONOVER
Caring through quarantine
Gabrielle Capaldo Staff Writer
What began as a small group of volunteers helping students in quarantine has turned into a committee called the Quarantine Care Team (QCT). Last fall as positive COVID-19 cases increased at the college, so did the workload of Student Life & Learning (SL&L) who was tasked with housing students and contact tracing. However, the needs of students span beyond a place to stay. They need food, academic assistance, laundry, package delivery, counseling and more. In October 2020, President McNulty created the QCT to meet quarantined
students’ specific needs. According to Mandie McCreadie ’04, assistant registrar, members of the team include herself and the following: Betty Tallerico, Cathy Jacobs, Don Opitz, Zachary Pitcher ’17, John Inman, Brenda McNulty ’80, Amy Frank, Michelle Hummel and Debbie McComb. McCreadie said the team was formed to “care well for students while they’re needed for COVID reasons to be away from their normal support system, routine, available resources, etc.” Resources the QCT provides include doing laundry for students in quarantine, delivering packages, retrieving items from students’ rooms, coordinating onCARING 9
GCC
As of Thursday, the COVID-19 Positive Dashboard on MyGCC reported 14 new cases between Feb.19 and Feb. 21. This brings the total up to 65 students cases and 7 employee cases since the first of the year. The Quarantine Care Team offers help to those students in the hotels who are directly affected by the spike.
Former Dean of Women and Vice President for Student Affairs Nancy (Lee ’54) Paxton has passed away. A longtime Grove City College administrator, mentor and friend to students and PAXTON alumni died Feb. 20 at her Grove City home at 88. “It would be difficult to exaggerate the impact Nancy Paxton had on the lives of thousands of students during her tenure at the college,” said President Paul J. McNulty ’80. “She was a constant source of cheerfulness, kindness and devoted service to the campus community. Now, in the presence of her Savior, she can look to her right and to her left and enjoy fellowship of the saints who have gone before her.” Paxton joined the college as dean of women and director of housing. She was promoted to dean of students and vice president of student affairs in 1991, a post she held until her retirement in 2004. In this capacity, Paxton managed leadership in residence halls, coordinated student housing needs, organized special events, supervised student counseling and led various campus activities. Upon her retirement, the college awarded her an honorary Doctor of Human Letters degree. With nearly three decades of service to the college and its students, Paxton advised many campus organizations including Panhellenic Council, Mortar Board, Crown and Sceptre, Association of Women Students and the Student Government Association. She was a sister of Alpha Beta Tau sorority. Her husband, H. Thomas Paxton, passed in May 2016. Nieces and nephews survive.