-Messenger photo by Elijah Decious
Sophia Carlson, a sophomore, and Ryan McGonegle, a senior, chat with new podcast equipment at St. Edmond. Thanks to a generous donor, St. Edmond recently added the new podcast room, where students, staff, church members and others will have conversations in an upcoming podcast.

With a new principal, podcast room, course offerings and technology, St. Edmond Catholic School is taking a fresh look into the future of private Catholic education by incorporating 21st century skills and learning styles for student success.

“I have found there to be a lot of opportunities in education during this pandemic,” said K-12 Principal Abby Glass. “So as much as it has caused additional work and time to think through these things, it’s also helping us to reflect on additional changes to help us grow and get better as educators, as institutions.”

Glass, who has taught in Catholic schools around Iowa for 16 years, took her first position in education administration at St. Edmond in 2020 upon former Principal Linda Mitchell’s retirement.

For the last nine years, she taught at Kuemper Catholic School in Carroll while finishing her master’s degree.

“I knew I wanted to be in a Catholic school. It’s important to me and a passion of mine,” said Glass. “I feel fortunate to be in administration during a time when there are a lot of changes happening.”

Some of the biggest positive changes forced by the pandemic have helped move St. Edmond into more technology use and ways to appropriately incorporate technology in education, including networking and digital learning methods.

“I think there’s a focus to shift the traditional classroom to 21st century learning and thinking (about) how students learn in different ways,” said Glass.

The beauty of that in their school is the opportunity to focus newer learning processes on collaboration, creative thinking and their faith.

Over the last year, the school’s one-to-one laptop program has been extended down to third grade. The school also recently received a generous donation from a donor that enabled them to build a podcast room, soon to be revealed during Catholic Schools Week.

In the podcast room, high school students will soon be able to put lessons from an upcoming mass communications course into practice with computers, microphones and cameras. There, they will learn how to podcast, manage social media, form project proposals and produce them from start to finish. Through student-led projects, Glass said pupils with gifts and talents in communications will be able to gain leadership experience.

“We’re making sure we’re expanding our (course) offerings to have a lot more diversity in those offerings to expose students to many different things,” she said.

During Catholic Schools Week, the room will be used to interview parents, teachers, alumni, stakeholders and students to reflect on the values of Catholic education.

“We’re blessed to have donors see the value of progress,” Glass said. “With the popularity of podcasts, it’s a great way to connect to families and the community.”

In addition to the mass communications course in the works, St. Edmond students had the opportunity to start taking an introductory engineering course this semester in partnership with Engineering Tomorrow.

Through the course, students receive kits to help them get their feet wet in engineering concepts like building bridges, water treatment, 3D printing and mechanics. Along with the kits, students are able to have video calls with engineers and engineering college students around the country, exposing them to different occupations and ways to think creatively.

But in adjusting to the pandemic, the school has learned that technology is only one part of adapting to a new era.

“It’s rethinking a shift in the way our teachers are teaching,” Glass said. “Teachers recognize that you can’t take what you were doing in the classroom and put it online. … You’re shifting and trying to find and collect data on students in different ways.”

Though St. Edmond has been teaching in person since August, roughly 30 out of the school’s 585 students opted for distance learning last semester, with 14 opting this semester. The new principal said she believes the decrease in the second semester to be a reflection of confidence in the way St. Edmond has mitigated the risk of COVID-19 at school, which included wearing masks from day one.

Most of adapting to distance learning has to do with logistics, communication styles and time management. Students learning from home are required to check in through a video call with a teacher and guidance counselor for social-emotional needs at least once each week.

“We have such opportunities to help students grow in a way that’s fitting for where we’re at,” Glass said. “The problems are changing, and the way we find solutions is changing.”

And with kids hungry for new methods of learning, she thinks the reassessment of traditional thinking in education will help create even more students that can truly make a difference in the world.

To help teachers with the transition, St. Edmond has added professional development opportunities to its calendar to promote growth as more technology is implemented in classrooms.

“We have teachers who have been managing both types of learning all through this year,” Glass said. “I call that progress. Educators are doing a phenomenal job of balancing both types of learning.”

As Glass settles in, she envisions more inclusivity at St. Edmond that goes hand in hand with the school’s mission of holistic growth in childhood formation — promoting the growth of the whole child through their body, mind and soul.

“I’m really passionate about human dignity and embracing differences,” she said. “This is the way we’re progressing. This is not just progressing because it’s a new idea — this is who we are at a Catholic school. This is who we should be, welcoming all.”