Relying on Humboldt County creativity, talent to support local teachers, students

When Humboldt County schools switched to distance learning in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, local high school teachers and College of the Redwoods and Humboldt State University instructors turned their efforts to providing an effective, engaging virtual learning curriculum for their students. One of the ways that we have done this is by bringing guests into classes through Zoom, Google Meet, and other virtual learning platforms to share information with students. As an example, St. Joseph Health physicians Dr. Skye Heston and Dr. Stephanie Dittmer were recent guests at local high school Biology & Community Health classes to speak with students about the science and medical challenges of COVID-19. Although face-to-face classes are clearly more effective for everyone, virtual learning does give us the opportunity to broaden whom our students are connecting with and learning from. With virtual/distance learning platforms, we can bring talented, creative community members into classrooms to share expertise, career insight, and inspiration with local students.

CR and HSU will mostly offer their classes online for the Fall 2020 semester. Humboldt County K-12 districts are still figuring out their plan for the fall, but it is likely that virtual, online instruction will still be a significant part of how teachers will work with students. In support of offering robust and effective distance learning options, the Humboldt County Office of Education, in partnership with the Arcata and Eureka Chambers of Commerce and local service clubs, is organizing an effort to help Humboldt County high school teach

BIZ SENSE » PAGE 2