Five faculty honored at May 29 graduation
CHARLOTTE — Charlotte Catholic High School recently recognized the 2020 winners of the Sister Paulette Williams Awards for Outstanding Service.
The 2020 winners are Jean Adamian (mathematics), Jeremy Kuhn (English), Dr. Leo Maganaras (science), Susan Montague (religion) and Shawn Panther (social studies).
In 2016, the CCHS Foundation established the Sister Paulette Williams Awards i to recognize members of the faculty whose exceptional dedication, knowledge and commitment inspires students.
These are teachers who consider the whole student, and encourage them to be their best in all aspects of their lives. They exhibit the best qualities of faith and mercy in their interaction with students as well as with colleagues. They consistently go above and beyond, making a difference in the lives of students and the school community.
The CCHS Foundation chose to name the awards in honor of Mercy Sister Paulette Williams, who played a key role in establishing the basis for Catholic education in Charlotte. She was a teacher at CCHS for five years, assistant principal for two years, and principal for 20 years. “Her leadership, dedication, guidance, and vision built our school into what you recognize today – a community leader in academics, arts and athletics,” said Principal Kurt Telford.
Any current member of the CCHS community – teachers, staff, parents, and students – may nominate a faculty member for the Sister Paulette Awards. All are encouraged to participate, and this year, more than 50 nominations were received. A five-person committee, consisting of two CCHS Foundation board members, two past Sister Paulette Award winners, and one administrator, review the nominations and recommend the award winners to the CCHS Foundation Board for confirmation.
Rick Rossitch, president of the CCHS Foundation, announced the Sister Paulette Williams Award winners before graduation May 29. Each winner receives an award for $5,000.
“We congratulate these dedicated teachers,” Telford said. “These awards validate, honor and encourage these educators. They are an expression of thanks for all these teachers do every day, above and beyond what is expected, to make a difference in the lives of our young people and our school community.”
— Sally McArdle
GREENSBORO — Teachers at St. Pius X School in Greensboro have gone the distance with distance learning after in-person classes ended in mid-March.
The school community began forming its plans for distance education within a couple days of the state’s March 13 order to close schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers worked all day March 16 planning, structuring and shaping what distance learning would look like for their classrooms. By the following day, the first instructional content was delivered to students, along with Chromebooks, learning packets, class novels, textbooks and stacks of library books.
Throughout three months of distance learning, teachers and administrators remained flexible to students’ and parents’ needs, changing the components of the online lessons to be able to better facilitate limitations in technology, motivation of students, and the needs of parents working from home. Ultimately, teachers kept a consistent framework, layering it progressively with enrichment, student-centered engagement, live and recorded classes, needs-based assessments, and small group online learning.
Along with using its learning management system of Renweb/FACTS, where all teacher lesson plans are archived, each elementary teacher at St. Pius X School emailed out a daily schedule that focused on the education of the whole child. Teachers made sure there was time built into these schedules for outdoor play, art, music, instructional videos, reading, textbook assignments, writing and online math practice. Along with posting their daily assignments on this platform, many middle school teachers used Google Classroom to formulate a learning platform where students could progress through conceptual tasks and assessments at their own pace, based on specific skill objectives.
Every teacher and instructional assistant at St. Pius X School was involved in this distance learning effort. Classroom teachers worked from a virtual teaching schedule to hold live online classes at least three days a week, with additional hours for students to check in individually. Instructional assistants met with students online in small groups for more concentrated work in the core subjects of math, reading and writing. Individualized, one-on-one instruction was facilitated by the school’s academic enrichment teachers, who helped students to complete their assignments, set goals, and organize their schedules to meet each student’s specific learning needs.
Every morning Principal Chris Kloesz also delivered morning announcements live on Facebook and posted pictures of students’ creativity in the home-school setting. In addition, middle school religion teacher Bill Parker provided the school community with opportunities to pray the Stations of the Cross and the rosary. The school’s guidance counselors also connected with students, one-on-one and through small group chats, to ensure their spiritual, social and emotional well-being throughout the challenges of learning at home during a pandemic.
— April Parker, Special to the Catholic News Herald