Update from the Principal Fackenthall
Auburn Adventist Academy has now finished five weeks of Distance Learning. As the circumstances of all our lives have been affected by COVID-19, so has the modality of education at AAA. Distance Learning is the tool that has allowed faculty and staff, students and parents, to continue the school year these last five weeks and move forward to finish the academic year.
Some details about Distance Learning:
Distance Learning is a modality, “a particular mode in which something exists or is experienced or expressed”, that brings students and teachers together through technology. Thanks to the reconstructing of the technology program, which started two years ago and was completed last school year, AAA has a 1-to-1 computer program, where students have a school computer that they have been using since last year. Students have taken these computers home with them. Having this system in place has allowed for a seamless transition to Distance Learning.
Teachers and students have been using the Google Education Suite for the last two years to organize, communicate and learn in their classes. Knowing how to use the tools in the Google Education Suite has been very important to the learning success these last five weeks.
Students meet in video classes in Google Meet with their teachers. Besides working on their homework, at home, students also attend video classes on their computers...at home. Teachers and students are able to interact with one another, ask questions, present, and learn with each other, from a distance.
AAA students will earn academic credit for the 4th quarter of this school year. Many high-school students in Washington state, and other states, will be receiving waivers for the academic material they would have studied in the 4th quarter. Because AAA is doing Distance Learning, AAA students are blessed to be able to continue their education through the end of the year. In addition to building their foundation of knowledge, they will also earn academic credit which will appear on their high-school transcript.
Is Distance Learning perfect? No. All of us miss meeting in person at Auburn Adventist Academy on a daily basis. Nothing can replace the time spent in the presence of fellow students, friends, teachers, and mentors. Our prayers are for us to return to school in person, as soon as is responsibly possible. Until then, we will continue to grow academically, share memories and worship together through Distance Learning.