Let’s learn from the crisis, for Delaware students’ sake

On Mar 5, 2021

We’ve never lived through anything quite like the COVID-19 pandemic. And while it continues to sow chaos and stress for our schools and families—it also forced us to adapt to meet their needs. Strange as it sounds, we still have good things to celebrate and innovations to scale that emerged from the crisis.

First, there were the super heroic teachers, educators, and faculty members who went above and beyond for Delaware’s kids. When school buildings closed last March, schools and community partners mobilized to set up nearly 400 sites across the state to provide meals for kids and families.

In that spirit, the Vision Coalition of Delaware is looking to rally the local education community around our shared priorities ahead. The Vision Coalition of Delaware will present its first-ever virtual conference, New Perspectives in a New Year, as a series of three webinars led and moderated by Gary Stockbridge, the Vision Coalition Leadership Team chair and Delmarva Power/Atlantic City Electric regional president.

Join us for the remaining two sessions of the 2021 virtual Vision Coalition Conference Series, a three-part webinar — to share your stories, add to the conversation, and make a plan for the priorities ahead. A diverse group of local voices will facilitate in three panels on early learning, K-12 education and postsecondary success including workforce development.

Early Learning: in February, focused on building alignment and momentum in pre-K and early learning.
K-12: Tuesday, March 9, 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. will feature student, teacher, and psychologist voices on navigating a remote learning environment.
Postsecondary/Workforce: Tuesday, March 30, 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. will look at how the IT industry and postsecondary world are preparing young people for a new era.

We’re asking a lot of our students this year—not to mention their families and teachers.

The “school” experience looked much different this year. Class happened virtually for thousands of students, and while it was shaky at first, Delawareans quickly got their bearings and unlocked some truly creative ways to help students reach their goals.

But the pandemic also lighted a sense of urgency for us. At Colonial School District, our school counselors, nurses, and community-in-schools coordinator utilized our connections to our community partners, such as Christiana Care, 211 Help Me Grow, and more to support those families in need, whether it was for food, clothing, shelter or other needs. Thanks to Colonial School District’s commitment to the students and community, the Colonial Early Education Program supplied laptop devices to every preschooler in the district.

While it can be easy to join the downward spiral that occurs during challenging times we were humbled by the countless educators who shifted their focus and energy, without hesitation, to create an upward spiral effect.

Local organizations are intrepidly navigating virtual work-based learning opportunities with students. From paid virtual internships to expansive group-based projects with mentor employers — students are getting hands-on career experience without leaving their homes.

Because of the pandemic, more families are accessing virtual home-visiting sessions and developmental screenings for their young children. In higher education, universities launched relief funds, food pantries, and microgrants to support their students.

And the Zoom era also underscored our need to personalize the learning experience for young people; to invest in early learning and increase access for families; and to never limit learning experiences to the four walls of a classroom.

Many of these ideas were espoused in Student Success 2025, a plan launched in 2015 by the Vision Coalition of Delaware and informed by more than 4,000 Delawareans (including 1,000 students). Even then, Delawareans had a keen sense for what the future held.

Make no mistake: our challenges are large. We are concerned about the inequities for children who are homeless, do not have adults who can help them learn remotely, who speak a language other than English, and who do not have access to basic needs or the internet during this time. The challenges are even greater when these children don’t have the stability and resources schools provide.

Let’s take the best ideas from this challenging time to build a stronger future together. This winter, our group — a public-private partnership dedicated to helping our students — is pausing to reflect on what’s working and regroup for the work ahead of us.