EDUCATION 2020
‘Students became creative, innovative and so did teachers’ BY JEFF HELFRICH jhelfrich@oglecountynews.com
TOP LEFT: Oregon School District Teacher Kimberly Radostits works with a student online via Zoom. Photo provided. TOP RIGHT: Norah Sosa, a first grader at Oregon Elementary School, gets some help from her mom, Elizabeth, as she uses her Chrome Book for e-learning at home. Photo by Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media “The work took different amounts of time for each student,” Mahoney said. “It depends on how they learn. It was a lot more work for teachers. If a teacher had five kids struggling, they don’t have time to have those meetings. We took attendance, even though it wasn’t required by the state. We tried to stay consistent.” Mahoney said if he had to do e-learning again and had more time to prepare, he’d involve teachers more in the planning and survey students and families on what their needs are. Students with more needs would be assigned to a tutor-like staff member. Some parents had to get acquainted with the e-learning programs to help their kids. Mahoney said they weren’t prepared for that and more support like FAQ videos could be done if needed again. Something to supplement in-person interaction
would be needed as well. “We have to come up with something for kids’ social and emotional needs,” Mahoney said. Oregon is still holding out hope that it can hold summer school, which is slated to start July 6, in person. Mahoney hopes the Governor’s phase four reopening plan will allow it. “The state superintendent has told schools to plan on being virtual, but those students usually struggle with online learning,” Mahoney said. Mahoney has a few scenarios in mind if the schools can’t do full in-person instruction in the fall. One is a delayed in-person opening with virtual learning to start the semester. Another is a hybrid model with “A and B” days where half the students are at the school on a given day. The third scenario involves an
opt-in opt-out style where families would make the decision on whether their children attend in person and those that don’t would learn online. “None of these are ideal,” Mahoney said. Mahoney announced to families of high school seniors Wednesday plans to do a drive-in graduation ceremony at the Blackhawk Center on June 19. The district has contacted an audio video company that will provide a camera, projector and big screen. The students’ speeches will likely be pre recorded and efforts are being made to be protected from inclement weather, after rain impacted a similar graduation ceremony at Forreston High School this week. Mahoney also said that eighth grade promotion has been canceled.
COVID-19 & RECREATION
Mt. Morris’ Let Freedom Ring falls to pandemic BY JEFF HELFRICH jhelfrich@oglecountynews.com Let Freedom Ring announced last week that it will be canceling the 4th of July Festival this year due to the COVID-19 outbreak with the community’s safety in mind. “As a committee we had to weigh different factors and one was if our community would be able to support our event,” a press release said. “We will still be trying to do little events throughout the rest of the
year. Check our Facebook page for updates.” LFR is still planning on doing flocking and having a virtual run. Call or text 815-275-3360 and tell them the name and address of the yard you want to flock. The welltrained flamingos will stay in your friend’s yard for 24 hours. LFR will be holding a virtual run from June 1 until July 4. It is open to anyone, anywhere. Runners can run or walk the distance of their choice at their own pace. You will keep
track of your distance on an app. Use your treadmill or get outside to hit the pavement. Awards will be sent out. More details will follow on the LFR Facebook page. LFR will also be active with PorchFest, Straw Fest and the Mt. Morris Jamboree (Friday night concerts) depending on what happens with COVID-19. “The LFR committee will be hard at work for the 2021 festival and hopes to see you there,” the press release said.
Let Freedom Ring has been cancelled due to the pandemic. This is a photo of one of the floats that was in the 2019 parade.
• Friday, May 29, 2020
Oregon school district students officially finished their semester on Wednesday, but Superintendent Tom Mahoney said he won’t know the impact of e-learning until he can get them back into the classroom. The COVID-19 pandemic closing schools forced the district to conduct the final two months of its schooling online. New coursework ended a week early to give students a chance to finish incomplete work. “We don’t have final data yet on incompletes,” Mahoney said. “There were parts that were really good for us. Students became creative and innovative and so did teachers. In some ways there were positives that came out of it. I’m so proud of our staff. Everyone worked to make it as easy as possible for parents.” Mahoney said he “worries greatly” about the impact that e-learning had on students’ educational journeys. He has no idea what the effect was, but said the district’s current focus is determining that. The change showed weaknesses in Oregon’s system, Mahoney said. Some students and teachers didn’t have the necessary access to the internet. Some students were provided with paper learning materials and did better with that. Teachers were fielding questions from students from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m.
OGLE COUNTY NEWS | Ogle County Newspapers / oglecountynews.com
Superintendent reflects on e-learning experience
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