Because of the coronavirus, all schools have been closed through the end of April. So far, we have not heard any plan from the Augusta School Department to continue educating the students from grades 1-12.
I am in eighth grade at Cony Middle School, and I think this is unacceptable. If my school is closed for the rest of the year, we will be out of school for about five months.
The Augusta School Department should at least attempt distance learning. It definitely won’t be perfect, but at least they would have tried. All they are saying is that they will not continue to school us students because of inequities (“Some worry online learning may leave some Augusta students behind,” April 2). I understand that students may not have the internet or their own laptop at home; maybe they don’t have parents who support them or they have some specific special needs. But I believe students would be able to get wi-fi; my own homeroom teacher said so himself.
With special circumstances such as the coronavirus, rules must change. The state of Maine and our U.S. Department of Education have already adjusted school requirements and are urging education to continue. I understand some students won’t be able to get the same support as others, but don’t forget or neglect the students that can and want to continue their education.
If we were going to continue schooling, the students could work from home on Google Classroom and/or Duolingo. The Augusta School Department is not even trying. Many schools in our state and across the country at least are trying online schooling from home. My older sister’s school has been using Zoom to video call on school days to hold class. Each student uses a laptop or does work out of textbooks and papers if they do not have a computer available to them.
We have great teachers that have put together a list of resources and activities for anyone that wants to use it. But that is not that same as having classes and going to school. The online spirit week is fun, but this doesn’t teach the things we would normally learn in our everyday classes. School has gone through the trouble of returning our laptops to us — now let’s use them to actually continue educating us.
I think that the Augusta School Department should step it up and at least try to get work home to students. If they don’t, what kind of message are they sending to us students? Are they telling us to give up and not try at all?
I mean no disrespect to anyone who reads this piece, but I want to see our school district take action and continue to educate the students in their hands.
Ainslie Milewski lives in Augusta.
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