5:33 Meeting comes to order.
Speaker: Dr. Irizarry
Dr. Irizarry shared and went through his weekly update and video from last Friday. Students should keep abreast of deadlines, use office hours and work throughout the time school begins at 9:00. Black Knight Time teachers are growing in their role to include general student support. The teachers have a relatively low number of students, 15, and will function as a first-stop for their students. The BKT teacher will monitor their students’s schedules, check to see they are engaging in classes. Fridays are full days and students must log in per state requirement. School wide there has been a change so homework assigned Friday cannot be due before Sunday at midnight. Dr. Irizarry serves on the CCS COVID second committee. It has no new news yet, but will report back to the PTO after his meeting tomorrow with the committee.
Speaker: Shamika Terrell, chair of counseling. She introduces a talk from the counseling department about strategies to support our students during virtual learning. October is mental health awareness. At the end of October there will be a panel with mental health professionals, available for teachers, staff and students. Students will do things to improve connections, like eat lunch with their counselor and art therapy. Spirit week will still take place.
Speaker: David Wilkerson, counseling department. To give perspective, our teenages have at least equal to the stress we do, but less ways to deal with it. Loss of connection with virtual education is a problem. Students are connecting through social media. This is what they have, but it does not give the same support as real interaction, or the real interaction with teachers. To combat stress, the students need:
- Community
- Exercise (need oxygen debt, feel the wind!)
- Have a schedule and maintain it, including mealtimes with nutritious foods
Questions from the group:
What are warning signs of depression?
Stress itself is not bad, but necessary. When stress becomes counterproductive anxiety and depression can result. If depressed, the child will shut down. Generally they don’t know what is wrong, just that they are not feeling right. Eating and sleeping will change, and students stop enjoying hobbies and activities.
What kind of support will be given in BKT?
Social/emotional things like announcement of clubs. The teachers will make calls to parents. BKT is split by cohort and students stay together so they can grow in relationships in their CHS years.
What have students been concerned with lately? There is a disproportionate amount of kids saying they can’t handle virtual school, and want to come back in person.
Students should use the 15 minutes between classes to talk with a real person, walk or get outside.
8 hours of sleep is recommended for students. They need a gap between computer time to bedtime, and fresh air daily.
There are parent requests for a physical conditioning program for students, one they could do with other kids, and for teachers to be relaxed with deadlines to reduce student stress. Also for school to create “virtual buddy” connections.
Walks together are a great way to connect with your student. Don’t solve their problems for them, but help them find solutions they can carry out.
Next PTO meeting will have counselors speaking directly to support for Seniors
Speaker: Nancy Hopkins, Grants Chair
PTO’s of all schools set up a Reopening Fund which includes matching funds, designed to meet critical student equity needs due to the COVID crisis. It is done through Charlottesville Area Community Foundation (CACF). The main fundraising campaign has ended, with around $150,000 raised from corporations, foundations, and individuals. Funds are being distributed to each CCS school based on the proportion of student population receiving free and reduced lunch. Each school has a committee tasked with meeting equity issues particular to each school community. CHS has received $18,000 so far, may get up to $25,000. So far the CHS committee has purchased:
- Replacement chargers for chrome books
- High quality headsets to block out noise in homes
- For food security needs, 20 grocery cards in amount of $100 each
The next round of purchases will include:
- Scientific calculators that can stay home with the student.
- Styluses for the chromebooks
- Additional grocery cards
So far approximately $6,000 has been spent. All purchased items will be distributed by CHS to students and families with the greatest need. Funds can be used through the end of the 2020-2021 school year, and new needs will continue to arise when we move to a hybrid model. Potential future plans for the funds being considered by the committee are:
- emergency rent support and clothing
- Wifi hot spots
Green screens for background where students can screen out distractions and have privacy
Tutoring (Madison House at UVA is still volunteering tutoring, is doing so virtually)
Speaker: Volker Antes, PTO President about Sticks gift card fundraiser
Within the first 10 days of the campaign100 gift cards for a total value of $2,000 have been ordered by the CHS parents, of which 28 cards were donated for families in need, and three cards for Teacher Appreciation.
A matching challenge to the parents was announced: If 10 more orders are received by midnight tonight, the PTO will buy an additional 10 cards for families in need.
Volker asks the body to vote yay or nay on accepting Nancy Hopkins to the PTO Board as Vice President. The response is unanimously positive and Nancy is the new Vice President.
Steph Gist, PTO Secretary, asks people to send the PTO suggestions for speakers or subjects they want to hear about. Shares that the December or January meeting will feature a professional to lead a discussion about race and the different experiences it creates for people in our culture.