Katelyn Brown knew that navigating the waters of her first year as a teacher was going to be challenging enough without having to factor in a pandemic.
“I think when you picture your career, you have a picture of it in your head how it’s going to go or how you want it,” said Brown, who delayed her entry into the classroom by a year and will begin her first year of teaching algebra and geometry at Augusta Christian Schools Aug. 9. “Then COVID hits, and it completely changes everything.”
Last year, school officials scrambled to meet the challenges mandated by the pandemic. This year could present its own as children, teachers, administrators and parents try to readjust.
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“For the most part, parents are encouraged and excited that that the bulk of COVID is behind us and that we can get back to what everyone would consider a sense of normalcy,” said Les Walden, head of school at Augusta Christian Schools.
Brown is one teacher who is hopeful for more of a sense of normalcy this school year. After graduating from Augusta University in 2019, she had planned on starting her teaching career in August 2020. But she admits that had she entered her career field during the pandemic, she wouldn’t have known what was supposed to have been the norm anyway.
“It would’ve been my first year. It would’ve been the only thing I knew,” said Brown. “It’s not like I would’ve been used to my methods in the classroom and then having to come in and completely change everything. It would just be my first time. I wouldn’t know much different.”
Hannah Masiongale echoes the same sentiment. Masiongale is about to start her second year of teaching third grade at Augusta Preparatory Day School.
“Being a first-year teacher, it probably was a little bit easier compared to teachers who’ve been teaching for so long because I had to come in anyway and learn the ropes,” said Masiongale. “So, I came in and learned it how to do it the COVID way, rather than switch from my old ways and try to adjust to it.”
Improvisation is the name of the game when it comes to teaching.
“The biggest adaptation I had to learn last year was how to show emotion while wearing a mask the entire time,” said Masiongale. “I had to learn different body language to use, so they could tell if I was happy with their work or saying, ‘Let’s see if we can try harder,’ rather than just seeing my face and having a smile.”
Anna Carnes will also be starting her first year of teaching high school English at Augusta Christian. Carnes readily embraces the climate of readjustment, as she had to do so to make her own judgments about her children’s schooling.
“Having kids myself, it was all about adapting,” said Carnes. “For the first semester of COVID, we stayed home, and then the second semester we put our kids back in. At that point, finding a job felt like it was going to be impossible. God had another plan for me. I think it was just waiting, holding out and knowing that the people in charge were going to do the right thing.”
Both Augusta Christian and Augusta Prep stayed open last school year, each taking their own measures to engage the pandemic and surrounding issues.
Augusta Christian implemented a hybrid model, including both distance learning and in-person classes.
“We changed our COVID protocols in preparation for the year,” said Walden. “We loosened up on a few things, but we’ll leave some things in place because they’re just good practice anyway.”
Walden notes that precautions taken at Augusta Christian to keep classes open while keeping students and faculty safe were largely effective.
“I believe that out of the total student body, faculty and staff there were probably around 60 cases of COVID,” said Walden. “With contact tracing we could not trace one transmission back to our campus last year.”
Decluttering was a major aspect of Augusta Prep’s methods to stay both open and safe during the pandemic. Desks, tables, shelves and other furniture were taken out of classrooms, leaving the bare minimum necessary to conduct classes. Remaining desks were spread six feet apart, and some teachers had to work without their own desks. Students and faculty were required to wear masks.
“We’re fortunate. We planned well to handle that face-to-face kind of teaching,” said Rich Bland, who has been teaching fifth and sixth grade history at Augusta Prep for 20 years. “The ability to interact with your students face to face on a daily basis in person is critical to their learning.”
Both schools were able to continue the academic year without resorting completely to distance learning. Safety has been a recurring concern for parents this year.
“The Delta variant is increasing in our area, as younger people appear to be affected a little bit more,” said Walden. “It has caused a few questions, definitely something that we’re talking about and monitoring so that we make the appropriate decisions as we move forward.”
Teachers are focusing this year on continuing to educate students while staying alert and acclimating to any further situation brought about by COVID-19 and applying insights from the previous year. This goes for keeping kids and staff safe and for accommodating parents’ uneasiness.
“Parents, first and foremost, want to know when they drop their kid off at Augusta Prep that they come home in the same or better shape than when they were dropped off,” said Bland. “We’re there on the same team for their children’s safety and, of course, providing them the best education we can at the same time.”
The overall source of the teachers’ focus and sense of optimism is, of course, the children themselves.
“I felt like we built a very special bond last year because of the circumstances,” said Masiongale. “Just to continue to watch them grow into older kids, smarter kids, in person, I think that’s the thing I’m most looking forward to.”
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Regardless of the circumstances veteran teachers and teachers about to start their first day are both looking forward to being there for the students, regardless of the circumstances.
“I’m so excited. This has just been my longtime dream, and I’m fulfilling that dream now,” said Carnes. “All my feelings are giddy. I’m excited to meet everybody, to meet our students for the first time. It’s just going to be a great year.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter with The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
