Embracing a new way of learning

Steele High School adapts during pandemic

Marion L. Steele High School in Amherst has taken on new protocol amid of in-person learning during a pandemic.

Principal Joe Tellier said during a Sept. 14 Amherst Exempted Village Schools Board of Education meeting that both staff and students have adapted to new ways of doing the same activities while at school.

“It looks pretty different, but we’re proud of what’s going on,” Tellier said. “I think our faculty and students have embraced this.”

Some of those changes have included decreasing the amount of paper used during school, leading the district to lean on technology to track happenings during the school day.

Tellier said Steele High is using QR codes, an abbreviation for quick response, to help decrease paper usage.

“We have QR codes to go to lunch, we have QR codes to go to the bathroom, to go to the office,” he said. “Everything’s time stamped.

“Our health department asks us to be very specific, so we know from a contact tracing standpoint exactly where kids are in the building. It’s perfect.”

Tellier said while hall passes that previously were used often are vague about the time and place that students actually traveled to during class, the QR codes get more specific about time and place, which helps in terms of infection risk.

Additionally, students are moving from class-toclass much less frequently, which has caused a decrease in discipline from teachers needed.

Much of this discipline is needed during transition times, whether before or after school, or during the seven breaks students used to travel between classes during a normal school year.

Small lunches in different locations also helped in decreasing incidents between students, Tellier said.

Steele High has five different lunch periods that take place in two different locations.

“Some people call it a ghost town, but when you’re in a pandemic, I love the way our lunches look because they look safe,” Tellier said.

Taking classes outdoors is a popular method of teaching at the high school, he said.

Outdoor science labs and reading circles already have become a regular phenomenon. Superintendent Steve Sayers said these new ways of teaching are present in the district as a whole.

“Teachers are getting very creative and taking advantage of the nice weather,” Sayers said.

“It looks pretty different, but we’re proud of what’s going on. I think our faculty and students have embraced this.” —Steele High School Principal Joe Tellier