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The board voted 7-2 in favor of Hanks recommendation.
Board member Tracy Baer, who voted no along with Lindsey Mowen, said she thinks the competency-based calendar is moving in a good direction, but she s not sure the kids, parents, community and teaching staff are ready for it year.
After a year of COVID-19, she feels they just want to go back to normal and are tired of change.
Virtual Wednesdays are one change that was in the cross-hairs of many parents who responded to a survey about how the district is doing after its latest drop anchor day in February.
Hand-on experience As part of their graduation requirements, high school students are required to complete 30 hours of community service and complete a job shadowing experience. With the challenges presented by COVID-19 restrictions, students have been hindered from the ability to complete these tasks in a timely manner. It is our recommendation to exempt the Class of 2021 and Class of 2022 from the Community Service Project and Job Shadowing requirements for graduation, Rife wrote in a letter to the board. We will continue to re-evaluate this requirement for future classes, as warranted.
In addition to the Greencastle Police Department, job shadowing has seen students exploring career options at locations from Antrim Way Honda to Worx Graphic Design and all kinds of workplaces in between. The jobs included law enforcement, health care, child care, manufacturing, technology, education and journalism.
Things to think about
Schools have changed in the last year, the pandemic continues and it is unclear what s ahead, but asynchronous Wednesdays have served the district well this year, said Dr. Lura Hanks, superintendent. In asynchronous learning, the instruction is not in real time, but is available online.
Several adjustments have been made to when G-A schools are open to in-person learning over the course of the year so far, but virtual Wednesdays have been observed since day one at all grade levels.
They free teachers up to meet with parents, do collaborative planning with other teachers and give feedback to students anything that takes them out of the classroom on Wednesdays, Hanks said.