Permanent link for Leading In Uncertain Times on June 5, 2020

Leading In Uncertain Times

Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) Teachers and faculty have no doubt risen to the challenge of leading during this uncertain time. Biz Ruskowski and Katie Bonne are leaders within TCAPS as well as adult students continuing their education at Grand Valley State University Traverse City Regional Center. Biz Ruskowski is a TCAPS Elementary Principle while Katie is a TCAPS Interventionist.

When Governor Whitmer announced Thursday evening March 12^th that K-12 schools across Michigan were to close for 3 weeks; neither Biz nor Katie would have predicted how the rest of the school year was going to unfold. Both recount that they really thought school would be shut down for the original three weeks with one of the weeks being spring break.

Biz recalls a powerful think tank of TCAPS leaders beginning the conversation, in early March, about what an extended closure might look like. “At that point we didn’t know the severity but were planning and thinking about a two to three-week closure. One of the big things we were worried about was the meals program for students and what that would look like along with how to deliver curriculum to kids three to ten years old that may not have a computer.” Next week things changed extremely fast and suddenly schools were announced Thursday at 11:00 p.m. by the governor to be closed by the following Monday and with already waining attendance during the week, TCAPS chose to close face to face school Friday at the end of school day with less than a 24-hour notice. 

Biz explained, “I think my biggest role on that day was being a cheerleader for staff.” She pulled together a quick meeting with her staff and said, “I know you are hearing lots of rumors and I don’t have all the answers. I had us all take three deep breaths and said to just allow yourself to breath and have fun with kids today. We are going to figure this out but today we are going to just have fun with the kids.”

The mindset of a three-week closure pushed forward the first-round attempt to keep students on track by sending home printed packets with enough activities to last one to two weeks along with electronic format information as well.

As a TCAPS Interventionist, Katie Bonne was a big part of getting the packets prepared for students and assisting teachers in uploading necessary activities and information online. Katie recalls her team being deployed on the Wednesday before schools closed and the abrupt change and sense of urgency to get packets completed once schools were officially announced to close that Friday.

Big wins took place with meal plans figured out, students set up with their at home learning packets, and online learning; things seemed to be going smoothly.

However, during the week of spring break (third week) Governor Whitmer made the announcement that schools would be closed for the remainder of the year. The TCAPS administrative team including Biz and other principles sprang into action. Tasked with first writing a district plan of curriculum to be submitted to the state. Without this plan submitted and approved, remote learning could not take place.

After the remote learning plan was approved by the state, Katie was on the front lines of executing the plan. Her main priorities were to navigate the new technology that was going to be used to connect teachers with their students and parents. Katie passionately stated, “We needed to keep that connection with our students and also the connection to meet kids and family needs.” Hot spots and devices became available for families to pick up so their children could continue at home learning remotely.

As TCAPS is rounding it’s sixth week of remote learning, both Katie and Biz shared their personal challenges with the transition as well as how thankful and impressed they have been with their staff and colleagues to rise and exceed the challenges of Covid-19 school closures.

Biz explained, “the most powerful thing for me and my building is the level at where the teachers were at the beginning and where they are now with technical communication skills. All my staff are very skilled communicators and maintain good relationships with students and family. Where it became scary for them was the traditional way of defining a relationship was now being taken away from them and they now had to rapidly learn new technology skills to stay connected with their students and families.” 

Katie said, “ Everyone is progressing and I think our teachers have done an amazing job with being open minded and rising to the challenge. My team constantly checks in on each other's mental health. We are all trying hard to go above and beyond to provide emotional support.”

Both Biz and Katie talked about the positive changes and perspective that have come out of this difficult time of leading.

Katie shared that everyone has been able to get to know their students in a different way and this has helped bring the teaching community together even though they are far apart. But she emphasized they certainly miss each other very much.

Biz shared that she has been so impressed with how staff have adapted, risen to the everyday challenges, and really become creative to maintain a fun learning environment. “At this point I only have 1 family out of 400 that I haven’t connected with at least once. Generally, it’s just a case of not being able to connect or understand the platform so we continue to send paper packets to those families. Support staff has also rolled up their sleeves to be available to assist with technical questions that families might have.”

Biz shared another creative change has been hosting their morning announcements on Facebook live. She started them out  then allowed other teachers to host and get creative with them. One of her teachers shot a rocket off in his backyard and another had a Star Wars theme. It has been a fun way to keep in touch with students.

No one could have predicted this unprecedented time. One thing is for certain, the TCAPS leadership has evolved and reached far beyond expectations. Both Katie and Biz wanted to extend a personal thanks to their teams.

Katie expressed gratitude to her principals and curriculum leaders at TCAPS; Kirk Ranney, Britany Kay, Kirsten Morgan, and Kate Burwinkle.

Biz shared a heartfelt thank you to her husband and sons along with a huge shout out to her Administrative Assistants Jill and Missy, who have been on this journey with her every step of the way.  She also credits her TCAPS Principal colleagues and Executive team, as well as her whole staff, and the kids and families at Eastern Elementary. 

If you would like to learn more about extended learning educational programs offered at Grand Valley’s Traverse City Regional Center, reach out to schedule a remote conversation with Jackie Abeyta, GVSU Traverse City Regional Center advisor.

Posted by Jacquelyn Abeyta on Permanent link for Leading In Uncertain Times on June 5, 2020.