School moves ahead with home learning plans
By Jerry W. Kram
The Parshall School Board approved a plan to provide distance learning for students while the schools are closed because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Lessons started Monday, said School Superintendent Shane Sagert.
“The state gave us until Wednesday, April 1, to create a distance learning program, but we started Monday,” Sagert said. “We have committed to implementing a good distance learning program in case we don’t see our students for the rest of the year.”
The school district has contacted all the families in the district to make sure they have an internet connection at home. Reservation Telephone Cooperative is donating a free connection for the next two months to any family that doesn’t currently have internet at home. Sagert said 11 families asked to have the free internet installed.
The school district is already sending lunches out to students in the rural areas by bus, so materials they need for their studies will be sent the same way. Any paper assignments they need to complete can be returned on the bus as well, although most work will be done online.
Teachers will be using Google Classroom and Zoom to interact with students and each other. Sagert said he has done meetings with teachers and staff over Zoom and it works well. Principals Amber Young Bird and Anthony Esquibel will be able to drop into any online classroom and observe how the lessons are going.
