Name: Chad Scholten Role: AP Environmental Science and Human Anatomy/Physiology teacher 1. What unexpected challenges have arisen in the switch to online teaching? "One unexpected challenge is dealing with asynchronous instruction; this means instructing students when everyone has a different schedule and not expecting all 30 students in a class to be available during a specifi...

Name: Robbin DeMeester Role: Teacher, Theatre Department Head, and Leader of United Prayer Club 1. Has anything happened, or will anything happen to make up for the missed musical? “Unfortunately, nothing will move forward with the musical. It's been devastating for the cast/crew and the adult production team.” 2. What is going to happen to the improv team? “I'm hoping to have Ton...

Name: Dan Behm Role: Forest Hills Superintendent 1. What has the past week for you looked like as a superintendent? Are there many meetings happening? Constantly watching for updates? "The past few weeks have been somewhat of a blur. I have a great team of colleagues in the district who help in so many ways. Additionally, the 20 superintendents within the Kent county region collaborate ...

Name: Andrew Belsito Job Title: Teacher 1. How difficult was the process of switching to remote learning for you? "For my role, [it was] fairly smooth. My students have already been set up using an online platform through Michigan Virtual. The difficulty really comes in [when] learning time management or how to navigate their website for things like pacing, grades, materials, assignments, ...

Name: Steve Harvey Role: District AP Testing Coordinator 1. What does the new Advanced Placement test format look like?  "Each test is a 45-minute exam that students can take at home. The only type of question is short-answer. Art, Computer Science Principles, [and] Research and Seminar are "performance only" which means students submit projects without having a typical exam." 2. What ...

Name: Steve Passinault Role: FHC Principal 1. What decisions have you personally been in charge of regarding the switch to online school and grading? "The three high school principals, along with the district's instructional department, have worked together on almost everything related to online learning and grading. I have worked on communicating [with] and supporting our FHC teachers in this tra...

Name: Tracy Collar  Place of Work: Metro Health University of Michigan Health Cancer Center Job Title: Oncology Social Worker 1. Before the coronavirus outbreak, what did your responsibilities consist of?  "Before COVID-19 my responsibilities were to meet with patients and families to help provide support, community resources, financial assistance, counseling, and to be someone to walk a...

Name: Jeff Tolar Position: Janitor 1. What did the first week of school closure look like for the janitorial staff? "When I started hearing on the news about the virus, I and [other] coworkers started doing minor disinfecting which gave us a head start on what was going to happen. The 1st week we were closed we went through every room and wiped everything down, and after that, we began ...

Name: Adam Mix Place of Work: Spectrum Health Job Title: Director of the Solid Organ Transplant Program and the Cardiac Surgery Program 1. What did a normal day in your job look like before the outbreak? “I am the administrative director of the solid organ transplant program and the cardiac surgery program. In this role, I partnered with the surgical and medical director and was resp...

Name: Colette Wright Place of Work: Spectrum Health Job Title: Registered Nurse (RNC - BSN) in Labor and Delivery 1. Before the coronavirus outbreak, what did your responsibilities consist of? "In a nutshell, I (with the collaboration of my co-workers) help women safely bring their babies into the world! Some days, I work in our OB triage where we see maternity patients that are anyw...