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MHS teachers strive to continue excellence

By Amelia Tarallo
Hometown Weekly Staff

Teachers and students at Medfield High School haven’t seen each other since March 13. What began as a temporary two-week break has turned into a new way of life. Instead of seeing their student’s faces, teachers are resigned to checking up on them with brief email exchanges and assignments.

But like they always do, Medfield High School teachers have risen to the challenge to provide the best education for their students.

Though each department is experiencing its own challenges, most teachers are struggling with not seeing their students every day. “Just not getting to see faces every day is really difficult. That’s the part of teaching that we don’t think of very much, but it’s the essential part to connecting with people - physically being in the same room. It’s hard to know what’s going on with them,” says English teacher Mary Garcia-Rangel. 

The schedule has also changed to help accommodate the needs of students and teachers. “What they did was they came up with a schedule for a couple periods a day to do a Zoom call with students,” explains Garcia-Rangel . There are never more than four Zoom periods in a day, and it is up to each teacher whether or not they want to meet with their students. Some teachers opt out of Zoom sessions to avoid making their students feel overwhelmed by the constant changes that have happened in the last few weeks. Instead of holding class at 7:45, the first class of the day now starts at 10:30.

Less important than the welfare of their students, but no less disappointing, has been the change in curriculum. Garcia-Rangel has cut “Speak,” from her freshman curriculum. “We didn’t want kids to read it at home and not be with us for some of the harder parts,” says Garcia-Rangel. Other future lessons are continuing, with a few tweaks made to work with virtual teaching. “We’re about to embark on teaching 'Romeo and Juliet' virtually,” says Garcia-Rangel with a chuckle. “We’re all terrified. It’s going to be a really different experience. But if I can expose them to a Shakespeare play and have them enjoy it, which is always my goal, then great job, well done.” 

Seniors, in turn, had their final novel cut and have been given the responsibility to pick their own books to read for the rest of the semester. Some are challenging themselves within the inner workings of Orwell's "1984," while others are reading modern classics like “Murder on the Orient Express.” As long as the book is over 200 pages, they can read it. 

Teachers are working as best they can to provide students with a great education. Despite the tips and turns, Medfield students are striving for excellence, along with their teachers. Hopefully, next fall, they will be back in their classrooms together once again.

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