Hull, Iowa — Students, faculty, and staff at Western Christian High School are taking a two-day break from technology.
We had a chance to talk to Brian Verwolf, the Head Administrator at the school. He tells us about it.
(As above:)”That’s a little bit countercultural. An opportunity for students to calm the mind and help us focus on the right now. And already what I’ve seen today… today is our first unplugged day March 5… and I’ve already had more social interactions with students and watching them interact with each other than I ever have this year. So it’s met our goal and in encouraging people to talk to each other, encouraging students to look each other in the eye. This also helped to give students and staff of kind of a whole community challenge. It’s encouraged faculty to connect with different learning styles in students. I think it’s encouraged our whole community to think outside of the box a little bit.”
He says they had to get creative with how they take attendance. No homework is allowed on laptops in study hall, so he says they had to get out pens and pencils. Plus the games and ping pong table are in use. He says there’s been a lot of laughter in the building.
In other news from Western Christian, while school personnel were in Des Moines for the state tournament this week, the school was honored by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds for 100 years of service. Verwolf tells us more.
(As above:)”We had the opportunity to go to the state capital. And of course right when we walked in the door, Senator Randy Feenstra was there to greet us and shortly after we met him, we walked over just for a tour of the governor’s office. And as we were walking over there Governor Reynolds was walking into work herself and my four-year-old daughter was with us and Governor Reynolds quickly got down on her knees and greeted my daughter and that was the gateway to her office and we were able to spend some time with Governor Reynolds, and we took some pictures and she congratulated us on what Western Christian has been able to provide to our community for over a hundred years now, and then after that, we walked over to the House and Senate floor and met with some leaders there. And after we said the Pledge of Allegiance and prayed, Western Christian was recognized for our service, and it was just a really special opportunity for Western to get recognized and we’re thankful for that.”
Photos courtesy Western Christian
