First, I want to thank you all for cleaning out the new Bishop Maginn Amazon Prom Wish List, it went in minutes and was short, sweet and fun.
Thanks for giving these children a chance to celebrate their prom in terms of their own culture with verve and creativity and at very little cost. I plan on going to the prom.
I’m aware, as all of you are, at the changes sweeping the country because of the coronavirus. Colleges and local public and private schools are shutting down now for at least a few weeks and possibly longer.
They call it remote teaching.
I am not privy to Bishop Maginn’s plans, but it seems increasingly plausible that the school will have to consider closing for a while and offering remote teaching – teachers teaching on computes to students at home.
Several people in the area, including one student at a college, report contracting the virus.
Educators say they don’t expect this to last longer than a few weeks or a couple of months. It has worked in other countries to control the virus.
But Bishop Maginn, if they go that route, will have special challenges, as many, if not most of their mostly poor students – refugee and inner-city – do not have computers, or even Wi-Fi.
If the school closes, one option would be purchasing wi-fi hot spot kits so that students can gather in one another’s homes or special locations in small clusters and see their teachers and their lessons and keep up with their schooling and homework.
This is especially vital to refugee children, some of whom are still learning English and adapting to America.
I don’t know if this is going to happen, but it if does, I will offer to help raise some money to purchase a dozen or so wi-fi hot spot kits so that all of the school’s students will have access to their teachers.
They cost around $50 to $75, depending on the range and power.
Many of these children live close to one another, so it would be feasible for them to gather together in small groups. The Wi-ft hot spot kits could pull in computer signals that are nearby.
The school could also use some of the 24 laptops we bought for them earlier in the year.
I imagine the school is already working on contingency plans like this, should they occur.
Nothing has happened yet, I’m just mentioning this now in case it occurs. There is no reason to seek or send money at this point, and hopefully, not at all.
I just want to get the idea out there so if the school has to close, we will be ready to help them, I would hope to move quickly as this could be the most urgent need yet for the Army Of Good to try to address.
We’ve done a lot for the school, and the need here might be very critical, the cost for us fairly low. I’m not sure how many kits the school would need, but the student body is small.
Thanks again for your support, you can’t imagine the difference you have made to these children and their teachers. To me, the school represents the promise and hope of organized religion.
It is unfortunate to see all this trauma and uncertainty, but a blessing to be needed.
(Photo, Asani loving Zinnia at Bishop Maginn High School.)
Jon, our local library lends out hot spots. Don’t know if the local library there does. Just a thought.
Thanks Karla, but I don’t think lending works in this case, certainly not for the immediate future..j
There’s a lot wrong with this post. First of all, libraries already have wifi; they don’t need us to purchase it for them. Second, wifi hot spots are just devices; they don’t include a service plan, which is quite expensive. Third, you don’t seem to get the concept of social distancing–the last thing we’d want to do is to encourage these students to group together! If they have have to miss a month or so of school and make it up later, so be it. Pandemics require social sacrifice of us all.
Ronald, there’s a lot wrong with your post. Some libraries in the area have announced that they will remain open and offer special rooms for students who need them rather than have them wander the streets. I don’t need your lectures on social distancing, except perhaps to be grateful to be distant from you.
These are poor refugee students with nowhere to go to learn, and there are lots of ways to make that happen safely.
The school will decide how to encourage them and in what way, not me or you. I will support whatever choice they make and they don’t need lectures on safety either, it is much on their minds. Finally, some wi-fi hot spots only work with certain ISP’s, like Verizon. Some don’t need a service plan. So far, you are wrong on every single count, another win for accuracy in social media. Second-guessing is a national sport, truth is an orphan. What they miss and for what length is not up to you, blessedly. How nice of you to make sacrifices for helpless people in need. I pray you are not running a school.
Actually, Jon, I DO run a school, and I have to tell you that Ronald is correct and you are wrong. Encouraging students to gather together to work is the height of irresponsibility right now. You also seem to be encouraging students to steal wifi when you say that the wifi kits could “pull in computer signals that are nearby.” In what universe is it ok to pilfer from unsecured networks that others are paying for, without their permission? Our students may end up missing school and making up the work in the summer, but, as Ronald points out, that’s not the end of the world. You need to get your priorities straight and understand the science of community spread and flattening the transmission curve a little more than you seem to have now.
Emma, I’m glad that I don’t have a kid in your school. You might read my post before writing about it. There is no decision made by this school to close or if so, what to do about it. I’m anticipating what they might need and hope to help.
There are no plans to pilfer signals from anyone, the signals they pull would be from families or institutions that do have wi-fi and cooperate. How do you know what they will or will not pay for? Speaking only for me, I do not believe I have the right to decide what is a big deal for these children or not when it comes to their education.
I’ll leave that to professionals who know them. It’s disheartening that you make these rather sweeping statements, especially as you don’t know any of these kids or what their circumstances might be or not be. Nor have you bothered to ask. Is this what you teach?
These are poor kids whose families work day and night and who have no access to technology. You seem happy with the idea they can roam a city for months with no education and nothing to do. I’m not so easy about it. I have no interest whatsoever in learning about the science of community spread or flattening the transmission curve any more than you seem to have learned about empathy, (yuk!)I’m a writer, not an educator. Sounds a bit on the pompous side to me.
The school will make whatever decisions they choose to make and I will support them in any way I can. I wish you and your students’ good luck this summer, I hope their families have some money.
We do disagree.I think someone should care about what happens to these kids when and if their school shuts down and thinks about continuing their education and making sure they are not abandoned to fend for themselves in a hostile environment. Many of these kids have trouble enough.
Ideally, it should be someone in your position, not mine.
Fortunately for them, they are not students in your school, they do have teachers and administrators who care about them and will try to figure out what is best for them, apart from tossing them out into the street and telling one another it’s no big whoop. Is what “flattering the transmission curve” means? That’s why I love this school and will work to support it, and I’m sorry if you find that indulgent and irresponsible, but my reaction is mostly to feel badly for you. Best wishes, though..