It’s been a few months since the last time the Porter Press visited Lincoln Way North. We wanted to give an inside look at how teachers specifically are feeling after the transition period has passed and what they’ve been navigating as the year has gone on.
How did you feel about the referendum outcome?
The teachers we spoke to mostly felt the same. They’re disappointed and frustrated. Mrs. Ludwig specifically said “I see it both ways. I voted yes, I wanted people to vote yes but I was kind of relieved that it didn’t pass. I didn’t want to experience the disruption of renovating over 5 years.” She also commented on the taxpayers and how much more expensive things would be. But as a community member, she wants a beautiful school for her kids and for everyone’s kids. Good schools will bring in good families. “We all want Lockport to be comparable to other schools.”
What do you think will happen next year?
Another teacher expressed, “I am hoping that we are back at Central next year for many reasons. Central is crucial to our Lockport identity and has a lot of history within its walls. I believe that places have a “feel” and Central has always felt like home. While I am incredibly thankful that we were able to use Lincolnway North’s beautiful facilities, I don’t have a connection when I walk into LWN and it seems like our current Freshman students also feel relatively “detached” from the general Lockport culture. This isn’t the fault of any administrators or teachers who have tried their best to create an inclusive learning atmosphere and I’ll be the first to admit they have moved mountains to try to make the best of this situation.”
Mr. Duzan said, “I hope they have been working hard and have started it like yesterday to get everything back in order.” On the other hand, some teachers think that we will be back at Central, for sure, by August.
Is the administration doing a good job taking care of teachers?
The teachers that chose to remain anonymous wanted to say that the support feels “impersonal” and they are frustrated that money wasn’t already allocated towards the preservation of the Central Campus until it was too late. “The ceiling collapsed at Central but East has a new tech lab and a coffee shop! I just feel like there are steps that could’ve been taken to prevent what happened.”
Another teacher commented, “I am a traveling teacher and due to this new schedule, I am now driving 81 miles each day which has taken a financial and physical toll. Faced with the alternative of meeting in person or not, of course I prefer meeting in person and am thankful we get instructional time with our students.” Another major issue is that teachers with children who had set plans with childcare and schools have to sacrifice their work time to pick up their children. It’s an extra hour in the car for most people and that means there’s more money spent on gas, tolls, and even wear and tear on their cars. There will be no reimbursements for teachers that exclusively work at the freshman campus and only traveling teachers will receive a stipend for their travel between East and North.
But there are a lot of teachers that do feel supported, like Mr. Duzan, “We are fortunate to have the staff we do. They made a quick turn around to get the students to learn in person. I also want to shout out to the maintenance and custodial staff that they put in a lot of hard work and are doing a very good job considering the cards that they were dealt.” The administration also does their best job to check in and be there for teachers by sending emails and google forms to help teachers communicate with concerns they may have.
Are you happy here?
“It’s served its purpose but I want to get back to Central. I miss the longer class periods, normal labs and Compass. I miss the building, close commute from my house, and my colleagues from East campus. I used to be able to see them more often, but since I’m at this building I almost never get to,” Mr. Duzan commented. The teachers do feel like going to Lincoln Way North was the best outcome, but it has its pros and cons.
Another teacher commented, “as a traveling teacher who now starts at LWN, I now miss 100% of the Wednesday team/plan PLC time which I greatly look forward to. It was the only time I had to check in with my other fine arts colleagues who I don’t get the chance to see regularly. I was the PLC Team Leader for our group and felt we were making some meaningful progress that unfortunately came to a halt due to the amended schedule.”
How do you feel about 37 minute class periods?
“Give me 37 minutes over online any day. It’s not perfect, but we’re making it work,” Mr. Duzan had an optimistic perspective about these shortened periods. Being online would mean that the students can’t get one-on-one interactions as easily, and there’s no way to make sure they are actually engaged and doing the work. Mrs. Fetherling agreed, and said she has no problem, but she has to start the lesson right away, and if students are late they are expected to catch up.
However, other teachers have a different opinion because they feel it is difficult to cram a lesson in 37 minutes and they have had to cut curriculum, and slow down some topics because they can’t cover anything. Mrs. Barnas expressed her frustration with the short class periods and so did Mrs. Ludwig who said, “We’ve had to sacrifice precious time. There’s barely any time to do anything fun and we almost never have time to start homework in class,” and “I have to shorten it to one or two examples for notes and when students are doing their homework they’ll just have to have their notes out.” How much can students truly absorb and learn in 37 minutes?
In the Fine Arts department, the staff are especially struggling with keeping students in the program. A lot of it has to do with their experience this year, and Ms. Mudroch gave us her perspective as the band director for the freshmen students, “Speaking strictly from an arts perspective, it is incredibly difficult to teach an effective lesson in a short period in any class, but especially with freshman. Our warm-up, which focuses on building and reinforcing crucial playing fundamentals is 20 minutes alone. The remainder of the period is left to work on our concert literature but again, it is difficult to dive into the 2-3 pieces in an in-depth way. An observer might say, well then just cut the warm up! The issue with shortening the warm-up is that our freshman students come from 6-7 different programs with a variety of skills and ability levels. One student might be able to play all of their major scales with great proficiency level while another can barely muster a concert B flat. It takes quite a bit of time to address the diverse needs of 60 different students on an individual basis, a lot of which occurs in our warm ups as we focus on fundamentals.” The arts are really hurting after COVID and especially after the Lincoln Way North move.
Not only are teachers struggling and missing Central Campus, so are students. Students are detached and struggling at school. They don’t have the drive they used to. The teachers miss their classrooms, community, and fellow staff members. We all want Central Campus back.
Now, as some of you may know, when the ceiling collapsed it was Mrs. Ludwig’s classroom where the plaster fell. We asked her some personal questions about her classroom and her feelings and thoughts about when it happened.
Were you the first person to see the ceiling?
Miss Ludwig said that she was, in fact, not the first person to see the ceiling. Her colleague, Miss Lange, was the first one to see the ceiling due to the debris that had fallen under the door. She then called the janitors and waited for help and for Miss Ludwig to arrive to tell her what happened.
What was your reaction?
Miss Ludwig was very calm about the situation. Of course there was the initial shock of “oh my goodness,” but overall Miss Ludwig said she never stressed over the WHAT IF factor of it but she was just thankful that she and her students were okay.
Were you able to get your supplies and such from the classroom?
Yes. She was able to get mostly everything from her classroom including her photo board where she takes pictures with students for their birthday! She also showed these stand alone white boards that the ceiling mostly fell on that are still intact!
We are all thankful that everyone was okay and no one was harmed. Overall, the teachers are missing Central but are incredibly thankful and blessed that they had the opportunity to teach in-person with the accommodation that Lincoln-Way North provided.
