Best of the Week 2019-2020: Teaching to the Future

ST. ED'S SCHOOL CULTURE DEPARTMENT MAINTAINS STUDENT LIFE EXPERIENCES FOR EDSMEN THROUGH CHALLENGES & CONTESTS

St. Ed's School Culture Department has maintained a unified and robust student life experience for students and members of the community online. With virtual connections, social media challenges and sharing photos and videos, St. Ed's remains present to provide students with continuous ways to feel connected and together while physically apart. "Interpersonal relationships are the core of St. Ed's, our campus and our mission. Since we cannot be physically present in each others' lives during this time, it is imperative that we remain virtually connected by sharing our experiences, perspectives, our humanity, the ways we're coping, having fun and celebrating our Holy Cross mission," says Dean of Students Mr. Mark Urban. "The School Culture Department and the Counseling Department have been working together to ensure that our students have as much support as possible. So much of what our department develops and responds to is our Edsmen and we strive to offer programming and support that is foundational through the Holy Cross mission. That mission does not change, though our platforms are now virtual and digital. It is important to innovate distant learning and engagement programming to demonstrate the dynamic nature of our school's culture."

Thanks to Mr. Urban, Principal KC McKenna '00, Head Basketball Coach Eric Flannery '90, Theology teacher Mr. Owen Williams '13 and other St. Ed's faculty and staff members, students and Future Eagles have been challenged to participate in a virtual HORSE game on Twitter. In addition to sharing home workspaces, Math teacher Mr. Dan Corcoran '07 created an MTV Cribs-inspired tour of his "SETV Cribs" home away from St. Ed's to offer some comedic relief for students. In addition to these fun ways to engage on social media, the Student Life office will be hosting video game tournaments, student-created content challenges, and film/literature reviews for Edsmen in the near future. "Part of our actions going forward are to communicate out to our students various tips, inspiration, motivation and fun things to do while learning remotely," says Dean of Student Life and Leadership Mr. Matt Wallenhorst '05. "We want to show that we all can still be a community while practicing physical distancing. We are fully committed to showing that this is the 'finest hour' moment for our students, that we will maintain strong relationships and connections in spite of the challenges before us. Making sure our students have what they need and showing them that we are all here to love and support them is our biggest goal."

"Our Edsman standard of 'Family' has been on full display as our community engages with each other," says Mr. Urban. "We are always connected as Eagles, even from afar. I know that our St. Ed's relationships will continue to shine, inspire and uplift us during this time. It will be fun to see how our community continues to share our lives, joys, and challenges together."