SALISBURY — After a long hot and wet summer, Sacred Heart School’s gardens and outdoor learning spaces really took a beating...many weeds showed up, but unfortunately there were not many volunteers allowed to be on campus to pull them out because of COVID-19 restrictions.
The school community knew they would have to work together to get the garden and outdoor areas looking good again. A big thanks to the facility staff, middle school science teacher Shoes, the Master Garden Club, and several school families who worked tirelessly over the past several months to get everything back in shape.
The Diocese of Charlotte’s COVID-19 protocols for schools emphasize more outdoor learning, exposure to fresh air and wide open spaces. Making outdoor learning even more enjoyable for students is an effort to give the Sacred Heart Sensory and Mary gardens a complete face-lift with new stone, new plantings, and new sensory play equipment. Furthermore, with the GO OUTSIDE GRANTS that teachers Mrs. Shores and Mrs. Michaels received for Sacred Heart school (totaling $10,000), they can purchase outdoor xylophones, art easels and drums for the sensory garden. The school is also planning a new outdoor stage for creative and theatrical play behind the Sensory Garden.
Switching gears to the Master Garden area where many STREAM lessons using agriculture have been taught, raised planting beds are being reconstructed and restored with new planting soil.
Due to recent heavy amounts of rain, the school is also correcting a flooding issue along the backside of the garden with a new drainage system. Again, thanks to the GO OUTSIDE grants, Sacred Heart is constructing a new outdoor classroom complete with concrete, seating, and a shade roof.
Next are plans to add a weather station, a magnifying station, and an outdoor white board for science and more STREAM lessons.
Thank you again to all the volunteers who give their time, talent, and treasure to keep our Catholic schools “safer, stronger, together.”
— Robin Fisher, Special to the Catholic News Herald
Two new principals are joining the leadership at Catholic schools in the Diocese of Charlotte this fall, one at Immaculate Heart of Mary School in High Point and one at St. Michael School in Gastonia.
A third principal position remains open as of press time at Bishop McGuinness High School, where Randy Quarles continues to serve as interim principal.
Ryan Schnaith-Ivan is the new principal of Immaculate Heart of Mary School.
He spent the past two years as an assistant principal at Ronald E. McNair Elementary in Browns Summit and prior to that he served in administration at Hampton Elementary in Greensboro.
He began his education career as an elementary art teacher in Michigan after graduating from Eastern Michigan University. He earned a master’s degree in counseling from Oakland University and moved to High Point, where he worked as the counselor at Southern Guilford Middle School for more than 10 years.
He left counseling to obtain a school administration license through the High Point University Leadership Academy.
There he earned a master’s degree in school leadership.
He and his wife Maria have two children: a daughter who will be starting eighth grade and loves to play the flute, and a son who will be going into first grade and also loves to read and draw. They are parishioners of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church.
His hobbies include soccer and making things. He has coached high school and middle school soccer for a total of 26 seasons before moving into administration, and now he coaches his son’s team.
At St. Michael School, Michelle Vollman has been getting settled in as principal since starting in the post early last month. Vollman came to Gastonia from Huntersville Elementary, where she taught for four years. She has taught in the classroom since 2012.
She was a founding teacher at Cabarrus Charter Academy, where she served as lead teacher, overseeing curriculum planning and advocating for the teachers and students under her leadership.
She has participated in more than 100 hours of professional development including educational strategies which focus on teaching to the whole child. She also recently achieved Google expert certification – particularly relevant as schools have had to rely on virtual learning and communication tools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vollman earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, and she is pursuing a master’s degree in educational administration at Queens University in Charlotte.
— Kimberly Bender, Online reporter