By Karen Egolf

Prospect High School teacher Nicole Stoltz was looking forward to meeting her Humanities students for the first time when her maternity leave ended right after spring break. She teaches seniors in the elective course and loves being able to inspire them.

But when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, those plans were canceled. “My first class back with my seniors was via Zoom—yes, Zoom!” Stoltz says. “All I thought was, ‘How the heck am I going to be able to connect and build relationships with these kids without seeing them face-to-face and on a daily basis?’”

But, as District 214 teachers and students discovered, the pandemic inspired them to think beyond the traditional boundaries and definitions of what high school learning looks like. 

“I began to think about what previous students loved about Humanities,” Stoltz says. “Most of them would say that the field trips were the most memorable, but unfortunately taking the kids on our big Chicago field trip to see the amazing architecture we had talked about was out of the question. Going to the Art Institute to see ‘Nighthawks’ by Edward Hopper or ‘A Sunday on La Grande Jatte’ by Georges Seurat up close—again, not an option. So how could I get these students excited to come to our Zoom each week?”

Stoltz soon came up with an idea: She decided to ask professionals in various fields covered by her Humanities course to speak to her students on their Zoom sessions. She first reached out to a former PHS student, Jackson Wrede, who is now a professional pop-collage artist, and he agreed.

To help her students prepare for the session, she posted a variety of links about Wrede on Schoology so students could find out more about him and his work. Next, she asked the students to come up with questions based on the Four Corners of Interpretation—four ways of reacting, responding and interpreting any type of art: learning about the work itself, reflecting on what was happening in the world when the art was created, understanding the creator and personally responding to the art as the “reader.”

The first class was a success. “We even ended up running out of time, but Jackson asked the students to reach out to him on social media if there was anything else they wanted to know,” Stoltz says. “I honestly didn't think anyone would, but Jackson told me later that week that he had a bunch of fun conversations with my students.”

Subsequent classes, featuring professional landscape and cityscape photographer Barry Butler and the Chicago-born bass singer, songwriter and producer Bear Williams, further cemented that success. Students’ excitement grew as they were able to discover more about the artists and connect with them online. 

 Overall, Stoltz says she took a chance—and it paid off.

“The students looked forward to class each week because they had an opportunity to listen to these experts,” she says. “These professionals opened the students' eyes to worlds they didn't know existed. Each presenter managed to help each student escape from quarantine—at least in their minds—and immerse themselves in the world of art, music, photography and architecture.” 

While the students would have experienced some of this learning on field trips, they were able to discover a different kind of immersive joy and excitement through the Zoom interactions. 

“So I guess I figured out how to connect with my new students after all,” Stoltz says. “And I loved every minute I was able to spend with them and our amazing new friends, Jackson, Barry and Bear!”