NORTH VERNON — The new school year has presented a lot of changes for Jennings County High School. Administrators, students, and staff are all adjusting to new COVID-19 guidelines while resuming in-person learning.
Senior Justin Merry recently sat down with new JCHS counselors Ashley Sedam and Emily Sommers to get their perspective on the start of the semester.
Q: What difficulties have you faced with all of the schedule changes?
Sommers: “Balancing class sizes online and in the classroom while meeting student schedule requests for classes was the challenge prior to school starting. But it’s what I expected.”
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Sedam: “JCSC has done a great job putting procedures in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, so I personally have not faced any difficulties in that realm. The amount of schedule changes from traditional to online has probably been the biggest hurdle for us in the guidance office. The change entails parent and principal approval, building a new schedule, gathering and passing on grades to new teachers of online courses, changing the students’ status to online and reporting the transition date, getting the student Google Classroom info, and updating spreadsheets.”
Q: Has there been any unexpected challenges?
Sedam: “I can honestly say there are less challenges than I thought there would be. JCHS has done a great job of preparing for this school year and going about business during the pandemic.”
Sommers: “What I didn’t expect was the number of students that would change from online to traditional and vice versa during the first month of school, and possibly changing more than once. It takes significant juggling of schedules and back office work to make the changes and ensure that students stay on track for graduation.”
Q: Have you faced any challenges from COVID with trying to prepare the seniors for college?
Sommers: “Things are simply different this year for seniors. College information sessions, for example, are virtual this year instead of in person at JCHS. Students will still have access to information about college and career options, we just have to reimagine how we do some things that are not possible due to COVID.”
Sedam: “Students have a lot of questions in regards to how testing and college-related procedures will be handled if another wave of the virus occurs. There are a lot of unknowns in this area, so we direct students to go about business as usual and keep an eye out for updates.
In conclusion, Sommers said, “Times are rough for everyone with this pandemic. Life is full of challenges that present opportunities to think outside of the box, COVID is definitely one of those opportunities. JCHS will continue to thrive and meet the academic and social, emotional needs of our students despite our current challenges.”
