Andrea Sommers will never forget her 10th year as a teacher at St. John Regional Catholic School in Frederick.
She teaches social studies, English language arts and religion to 82 fifthand sixth-graders. Since mid-March, the coronavirus pandemic has forced her to do all that from home, which she shares with her husband, Dwight, a captain with the Frederick Police Department, and their two sons, Henry and Gabriel, who are in the first grade and pre-K-4, respectively, at SJRCS.
The challenges of distance learning were reinforced May 6, when the archdioecesan Department of Catholic Schools announced that its institutions would remain closed for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year.
“I’m very sad that we are not going back,” said Sommers, noting that she won’t get the chance to bid a proper farewell to Karen Smith, who is retiring as principal of SJRCS.
That admiration is reciprocated.
“Mrs. Sommers is an outstanding teacher,” Smith said. “I wish I could clone her. She is caring and compassionate, and always willing to step in where needed.”
This spring, that has meant videoconference sessions with her students as often as six times a week.
“The Zoom sessions are not so much for talking about the curriculum,” said Sommers, acknowledging that social distancing has made it difficult to motivate students. “It’s really social interaction for them.”
Sommers also has frequent Zoom meetings with co-workers.
“We’re separated right now,” she said, “but I never feel like I’m alone.”
Amidst the uncertainty and an unsettling new “normal,” Sommers finds herself feeling grateful for her own education, which she said has prepared her for the uncharted waters of remote learning.
Sommers attended public schools in Montgomery and Frederick counties, and was studying art at Montgomery College in Rockville when her father encouraged her to pursue a career in education, which would combine her creativity with her love of children.
She interned at SJRCS while earning a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Mount St. Mary’s
University in Emmitsburg, where she also got a master’s in technology of education.
“My master’s has been a huge help to me right now, because I have a whole toolbox,” said Sommers, who uses multiple online learning platforms with her students, including Google Classroom and Padlet.
Aside from coming up with different methods to connect with students, Sommers has also tried new ways to entertain her sons. Dance parties before bed have become a favorite family ritual, and brought her sons closer. It’s helped keep their spirits high, as the Sommers family had to cancel a two-week summer vacation in Ontario, Canada.
While Sommers and her sons stay mostly at home, she worries about the mental and physical well-being of her husband and their father, a first-responder. Her faith is a big help.
“This pandemic has made me a stronger Catholic,” said Sommers, a longtime parishioner of St. John the Evangelist in Frederick who sets aside specific times for prayer and reflection. “Everything comes back to love.”
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