Not much to talk about at all today; and what there is, well… Just take a look.
- Back in 1977/78, a giant blizzard in the midst of the energy crisis closed schools across Ohio for what ended up being a couple of months. Districts including my own moved a number of mountains to keep us kiddos learning during this time, including homework packets, lots of books, and actual lessons taught by local teachers utilizing commercial and PBS stations’ airwaves for hours every day. It’s all sounding a little familiar to you Covid-era folks so far, right? Well, today we learn that the Ohio Department of Education is teaming up with those PBS stations yet again to present Ohio Learns 360, an effort to mitigate the previously-nonexistent Covid slide via “programs with PBS resources”. (We called it School Without Schools back in the day, but I think that would be a deeply ironic term today.) The effort will include “standards-based curriculum and materials, virtual field trips, interactive video programs, community events and more”. Ohio Learns 360 is to begin this month and continue through September 2024, “designed to accelerate student learning and support the state’s most vulnerable learners” K through 5 both after school and in the summer. It will be paid for using $5,000,000 in federal ESSER funding. This tiny intro piece says more information will be “coming soon”, which is good because I have many many questions about it. (Sidney Daily News, 4/6/22)
- Speaking of federal Covid-relief funding, here’s an interesting piece regarding air purification equipment being installed in Ohio’s schools to the tune of millions. The intrepid reporter notes that the CDC recommends filtration of no less than 13 (out of 16) on the efficiency scale in our schools. We learn that Columbus City Schools is busily upgrading to just that level, but Westerville City Schools in the semi-bougie burbs has level 8 filters in its schools and are not looking to upgrade. Noble Local Schools, out in the boonies, is planning to install some “nanostrike” plasma doohickeys along with whatever other filtration currently exists in the buildings. According to the PR flack who sold Noble these thingamajigs: “If you break the word into two parts, ‘strike’ is the technology where pathogens and microorganisms just burst at the DNA and the protein level. ‘Nano’ speaks to just how long it takes.” Simple, right? Clearly I’m in the wrong line of work. (WBNS-TV, Columbus, 4/6/22)
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