Carroll County YMCA provides academic support to students during pandemic

By Jade Fadrowski
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer

Even though Carroll County students returned to school for hybrid learning Oct. 19, The Hill Y in Westminster will continue to offer the support of the Academic Support Center. 

The YMCA is offering in-person academic support for students ages 5 through 12 amid the growing COVID-19 pandemic with associates specifically trained in virtual learning support.

YMCA Academic Support Centers are available in over 25 schools and select centers around the state of Maryland. Its mission is to guide students through the ups and downs of virtual learning.

Students stay in two designated rooms and stick to a regimented daily schedule. Full time students arrive around 7 a.m. and leave around 6 p.m. The day revolves around virtual learning but there are breaks for handwashing, snacks, independent play, and quiet time.

Temperatures are taken, parents aren’t allowed in the building, masks are mandatory, students are encouraged to remain at least six feet, and no more than two students can play together at a time.

Deborah Welle has worked for the Carroll County Public School System for 36 years as an elementary school art teacher. Now retired, she works as an instructor in the Academic Support Center at The Hill Y in Central Maryland.

 In her 36 years of teaching, she’s never seen anything like this.  

“Children crave ‘together time,’ and that is a challenge now. They do not have the much-needed opportunities to engage socially in a learning environment in order to develop social skills, respect for others and their ideas, or work in a culturally diverse group,” Welle said.

The classroom is not the same as it was pre pandemic. Multi-sensory lesson plans and group activities are nothing more than a distant memory.

“I took for granted having my students sit around a table, sharing materials, giving high fives, and even something as simple as passing a piece of paper and pencil around,” Welle said. “I had no concept of social distancing and didn’t have to worry about sanitizing materials, sinks, tables, or books in between classes.”   

The Hill Y’s Academic Center has worked closely with local school systems to ensure students’ needs are being met. A total of 26 students are enrolled, but not all attend every day of the week or even for a full day.

“The children benefit from being around others their age. However, virtual learning is a challenge. Most have a hard time staying focused sitting at the computer all day,” Bradyn Miller, Academic Support Aide said. “The younger kids that are still learning how to write also now have to figure out how to type too when they hardly know their letters.”

CCPS grade level classroom teachers meet virtually and schedule smaller group meetings for students who are learning at different levels in academic areas. This is similar to how they would teach in the classroom, planning instruction and pulling students into learning groups to meet the academic levels of their students.

“Students struggle to turn in their work because they don’t understand they have to click in turn in,” Miller said. “They end up having a ton of missing work even though they completed the assignments.”

According to Education Week, school closures have affected nearly 55.1 million students in 124,000 U.S. public and private schools. Every state either recommended or ordered that schools remain closed through the end of the 2019-20 school year.

Johns Hopkins reports that the U.S. is experiencing an increase in cases with eight million confirmed cases, 135,000 of them being in Maryland.

As the nation tries to navigate through this new era of virtual learning, the YMCA’s mission is to provide students with a sense of structure and normalcy in a safe environment.

“I have loved seeing children raising their hands for their teachers to see on their cameras while in class,” Welle said. “Writing a math equation on a lap whiteboard and holding it up for the teacher to see, standing up at their computers to do exercises for PE class, listening as they drum a rhythm on the table with pencils for music class, or use play dough in art.”

YMCA staffers are working together to bring a sense of normalcy to children, she said.

“Even when they are playing outside and have to avoid their favorite games, such as ‘tag’, they’re making the best of the situation we are in,” Welle said. “We are proud of them.”