We’re highlighting a teacher every Wednesday as a part of the #RedForEd campaign.

Every year is a great year to celebrate our teachers, but this year has shined a bright light on the flexibility and compassion of our incredible staff.

Today we’re highlighting Ms. Samantha Henry, a chemistry teacher at Terre Haute South High School.

How has your job changed due to COVID?
The biggest change in my job due to COVID is technology. I spend a large portion of my planning time converting things that were paper/pencil into a digital format and making videos that cover my courses. I don’t think that this is a bad thing though. My students can access their chemistry materials from anywhere, and the video lectures that I have made this year can be accessed repeatedly to help students who are struggling for years to come. One negative change that COVID has brought is the difficulty of getting to know my students this year. Most years by this time I know them so well and we have a ton of inside jokes and memories that have been made in AP Chemistry, but this year it has been so hard. I’ve missed the chaos and chatter of a full classroom.

What is something that people don’t understand about your job?
My job is so rewarding, but some days (especially this year) can be so hard. I think that sometimes people forget that students aren’t just students. They have so many other things that they have to worry about, and sometimes school has to take a back burner. I struggle with this often. I want to teach my students chemistry, but I also try to be empathetic to the fact that they are nearly adults with their own fears, worries, stresses, and responsibilities. I spend a lot of time outside of school worrying about my students and all of the things that they have on their plate. This balancing act is so hard as a high school teacher. I’m trying to teach them content, but also how to be organized, successful adults.

Why do you love VCSC/your school?
The people! VCSC is full of amazing people that all want to see each other succeed. I have so many friends and mentors in the THS staff. They are great listeners when I need advice or just need to vent. Also, the awesome adults in the VCSC are working hard to make amazing students. My students are kind, hardworking, and they know so many things! That is all due to the great teachers they have had in the VCSC. I consider myself so lucky to get to teach them!

Be sure to check back on #Staffurday–Saturday, that is–as we recognize members of our non-teaching staff. We’ll continue both campaigns through the end of the school year.

Every Saturday, we highlight a non-teaching staff member on our Facebook and Twitter (@vcsc_teamvigo) account, turning Saturday into #Staffurday to introduce you to some of the people who make school happen!

Every year is a great year to celebrate our staff, but this year has shined a bright light on the flexibility and compassion of our incredible staff.

Today, meet Ms. Sandy Grogan-Sills, an educational assistant at Terre Haute South High School.

Be sure to check back on Wednesday as we highlight another teacher for #RedforEd Wednesday! We’ll continue both campaigns through the end of the school year.

Plan for increasing middle and high school students to 4 days per week of in-person learning. Click the image for a larger version.

Based on improving internal and community COVID-19-related data, the Vigo County School Corporation is working to move all middle and high school students to a four-day-per-week in-person learning schedule. Under this plan, Monday will still be a remote learning day for all middle and high school students, and all students who chose in-person learning this year will attend school Tuesday through Friday. The plan has been developed with consultation from the Vigo County School Corporation COVID-19 Task Force, the Vigo County Health Department, and several local healthcare leaders.

Middle school students will attend school four days per week starting on Tuesday, March 2. High school students will start a four-day-per-week schedule on Tuesday, March 9. The plan was approved in Monday night’s board meeting.

The move to more in-person learning for middle and high school students is focused on improving the academic success and mental health of students. The district will retain Monday as a remote learning day for middle and high school students to continue to practice remote learning and to allow for contact tracing for weekend cases.

“This is an opportunity for us to refocus on our mitigation strategies,” said Dr. Rob Haworth, superintendent of schools. “Our continued defense against the spread of the virus at school coupled with lower community spread has brought us to this day, and we must continue to be safe.”

Student mental health continues to be a concern. In January 2021, the district saw a 83% increase over January 2020 in school-based crisis assessments. By February 10, 2021, the district had already reached the February 2020 total for school-based crisis assessments.

The Vigo County School Corporation has an additional tool to combat the spread of COVID-19. The district has begun testing symptomatic staff members–who are still staying home when symptomatic–using BinaxNOW rapid antigen tests. 

The district has studied districts with large high schools like Brownsburg, Avon, and Plainfield–schools with students who have attended school 5 days per week–and has concluded that community spread, not educational model, is the largest driver of cases in the school setting. Other large districts who have been in an A/B schedule at the secondary level like Bartholomew County and Seymour have already announced similar plans to move to full in-person instruction. The district continues to see minimal spread within school settings, including at the elementary level where students attend each day. While quarantine numbers may increase, the district and schools will develop the best possible plans for high traffic situations like lunch.

“We support the idea of a staggered return to in-person learning for middle and high school students as community case numbers and local hospitalization rates continue to hold steady,” said Dr. Darren Brucken, Vigo County Health Commissioner. “The benefits to students in regards to academics, mental health, and interpersonal relationships with our teachers is undeniable. Continued mitigation strategies of distancing and masking will be strictly observed, and we will continue to monitor community case numbers and work together to contact trace cases.”

All schools within Vigo County will be monitored, and staff availability will continue to be the most important indicator of when a school may need a period of remote learning.

Rules for Vigo County School Corporation athletic events will not change at this time, and each participating athlete will still be allotted 4 tickets per contest.

The three traditional high schools within the Vigo County School Corporation—Terre Haute North, Terre Haute South, and West Vigo—will move to an alternating A/B schedule starting tomorrow, Thursday, October 29. Grades K-8 and alternative programs will continue attending school five days per week.

The switch is due to cases transmitted at social events outside of school causing large numbers of students to be quarantined for 14 days because of close contact. An A/B schedule will allow for more distancing in classrooms and cafeterias and reduce quarantines among students, causing less disruption to a student’s education.

“We know the best education we can offer is in-person, five days per week,” said Dr. Rob Haworth, superintendent. “We also know, based on the events of the last two weeks, that our five-day-per-week schedule has become more disruptive than our previous A/B schedule.”

The district will observe one more remote learning Monday on Monday, November 2, allowing high school staff and students to practice with the district’s remote learning tools in the event of full remote learning.

A high school calendar for the rest of the year can be found here.

High school students attended five days per week starting Monday, October 19, after a month of blue and yellow ratings for Vigo County on the state’s color-coded map. Vigo County is orange today for the second week in a row, and the number of daily new cases are the highest since the start of the pandemic.

The district will continue to monitor cases and quarantines in all buildings, especially among staff, to make school-by-school decisions regarding remote learning.