Z Hawaii Conference
Jaycee Yoo (Grade 2) with mom and preschool siblings Zachariah and Essie receive school work and garden produce from Keith Hatcher.
Distance Learning at Kahili Adventist School By Debbie Nakamura
I
pushed open the door of my 5th grader’s bedroom to see him sitting in front of his laptop, headphones on and still in his pajamas. It was Spirit Week at Kahili Adventist School and this was Pajama Day, something the students look forward to each year. I am amazed at how easily he adapted to this new way of doing school. As a parent, I want to make sure that the need for social distancing doesn’t have a negative impact on my son. And as a school board member, I want to be confident that there won’t be lapses in the educational process and that our staff and families are not overwhelmed.
As I entered the school office where Keith Hatcher sat at a table, intent on the activity on his laptop in front of him, I heard the excited chatter of a student telling Mr. Hatcher something about a bird, birdseed, and nuts. This was nothing like the classroom I had come to know at Kahili Adventist School. Where once there were students either at tables working or standing around in a group activity and Mr. Hatcher writing on the white board, now he sat at a table talking to his students via a Zoom classroom. While he excused himself to the students to talk with me, they took advantage of the opportunity to chat with each other. I asked Keith how distance learning had affected Kahili and how the students had adapted to the new normal. He responded first of all with
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what I would expect from a teacher, indicating that the classroom was lonely now. This was not the teaching experience he signed up for! But he brightened up while sharing how quickly his students in grades 2-8 had adapted to the technical world of distance learning. They had no difficulty learning to log into their Zoom classroom each morning. They started their day with worship, just as they did in their physical classroom, and Keith noted that often several parents joined for morning worship. The class schedule followed much the same as always and, even in a Zoom classroom, students could work together in small groups. Keith noticed that some students were taking advantage of the opportunity to complete work early and move ahead at a faster pace. None
seemed to be lagging behind. I asked where this motivation came from. Mr. Hatcher replied, “I think it comes from their work ethic, and maybe it’s because they have been well trained to know what is expected of them.” He added that they have parents who want education, not busy work, for their children. I think that maybe it is also because teachers like Mr. Hatcher and Auntie Vergie are incredibly good at their jobs. Other aspects of school, beyond the academic work, were not being neglected. Time was taken during each day to do calisthenics, just as they would on the physical school campus. The garden project was not being neglected either. Every Friday, teaching assistant Vergie Same, volunteers Paul and Sandy Rivera, or Miss Mel, the preschool teacher, took time to harvest
