The Transition to Being an Online Student

Written By: Brianne Botzum

Brianne Botzum has been working with CASE afterschool program since 2017 and she will be the first to tell you that she misses seeing the students in person. Virtual has been an adjustment but Brianne’s passion for the youth she serves has made our online program something the CASE kids love.

As a college student, I experienced the disruption of Covid when my in-person classes were cancelled in the Spring. My Fall semester is a hybrid of online videos and in-person classes. The new class format was an adjustment for me, but my school’s administrators and staff have done everything possible to help with the transition. As I prepared to return to my role as facilitator for the CASE after-school program, I wondered how I would adjust to the virtual element there. Could I hold a middle schooler’s attention for 2 hours a day over Zoom? Everything would be so different from the previous year where we met in person, did a hands-on project every day, and participated in a variety of sports each week. When the time came for me to decide if I would serve this year with CASE online, I was encouraged to step into this season with faith.

Meeting with students online in the first week, I quickly realized that they were just as uncertain about the new format as I had been in my own college courses. Because of parents’ work responsibilities, some children are home alone, or going to work with parents because their school has not opened to in-person classes yet. For middle-school students, this change can cause anxiety. The students miss the face-to-face interaction with other kids in their class. Children, even in middle school, don’t always know how to express loneliness, anxiety, or confusion, but I could see it. At the beginning of the year, the kids were less communicative and apprehensive about participating in the program. I reminded myself that they are adjusting to new things, just like I did, and they need the support of caring staff to help them through the transition.

CASE started virtual but has moved to a hybrid program where students attend programming both virtually and in-person. The students recently completed 5 weeks of Hopewell Farm’s Growing Roots Program where they participated in composting, harvesting, propagating seeds, fermentation, and cooking.

Using my experience adjusting to online education, I have been able to help kids make this same transition. CASE is nearing the end of the first semester and the kids are becoming more comfortable in the virtual after-school program. I see it. They talk easily, laugh with one another, and use their facial expressions and voice to express themselves -- from funny accents to funny faces! They still miss seeing their classmates in person, but our online students have realized that they need each other. In the way only a middle schooler can, they encourage and support one another.

I am thankful that God allowed me the opportunity to work with these kids. I know that our students take comfort in the fact that we (me and the other CASE staff) show up every day ready to meet with them, engage them in activities that promote character and skills development, help with homework, and offer as many opportunities we can including online guitar lessons, computer programming, workout, dance, and in-person gardening and cooking lessons.

I know that CASE is a small part of their week, but I believe that our students are benefiting greatly from social interaction with others who believe in them.

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"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under the sun." Ecclesiastes 3:1

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CASE is a program of the Nashville After Zone Alliance. The Nashville After Zone Alliance is a network of coordinated after school programming for Metro’s middle-school students. NAZA is a partnership among the Nashville Public Library, MNPS, and other existing youth-serving groups. It is modeled on successful efforts in other cities and is organized around geographically-defined zones.