A Whole New World
return to classroom presents challenges for sisters amid pandemic
Students nationwide are heading back to school — or some version thereof — under extraordinary circumstances this fall. Administrators, teachers and support staff have been planning and working throughout the summer to enact safety measures and prepare for new educational models. Among them are our own Sisters Carol Ann Papp and Maria Derecola, both returning to Catholic school classrooms in the coming days.
Both have taken part in virtual and in-person meetings in recent weeks, all in preparation for an entirely new kind of school year where supply lists now include masks, hand sanitizer and thermometers.
“Getting the room ready for all the CDC precautions is a challenge,” says Sister Carol Ann, who teaches art and religion at Northside Catholic Assumption Academy in Pittsburgh. “Distancing all the seating and not being able to share art supplies all will be a totally different experience for the students.”
Reopening Catholic schools — even in the midst of a pandemic — is imperative, according to recent articles in Forbes and Education Week. These smaller parish schools often serve low-income communities and have fewer resources to endure declining enrollment or to bounce back from COVID-related closures.
So our Sisters and their fellow staffers dig in to face the challenges ahead. Sister Maria stops in periodically at St. Matthias School in Somerset, N.J., to help with preparations for the school’s September 2 opening. She and her colleagues go about their business in face masks and with tubs of sanitizing wipes within arm’s reach.
“I’ve been stocking up on face shields in addition to a mask, which is highly recommended for teachers” says Sister Carol Ann. “I feel more like a lab technician than an art teacher!”
As preparations intensify leading up to her school’s August 26 opening, Sister Carol Ann looks for small glimmers of hope and good omens, even stopping to photograph a special sight during a recent visit to her classroom. “When I saw the beautiful flowers outside of school, I had to capture their beauty.”
Sister Maria Derecola (right) and her colleagues prep for a new school year at St. Matthias in Somerset, N.J.
Watch: Our Own Sister Maria Derecola explains why parents should choose St. Matthias School.
When Sister Carol Ann Papp returned to her classroom months after its sudden closure in March, she had to reacquaint herself with the Egyptian mummies her students made at the start of the pandemic. “They seemed even more ancient after all these months away!”
Sister Carol Ann Papp tries out a face shield she will paired with a mask while teaching her art students.
Sister Carol Ann Papp was inspired by these flowers outside of Northside Catholic Assumption Academy in Pittsburgh.