In March, when the Indian Hill School District joined districts across Ohio in distance learning, Indian Hill High School (IHHS) student Sophie Chabris felt the distance.
“During the stay at home time I got super sad since I was disconnected from my friends,” described Chabris. “Yes, I was able to text them, but it wasn’t the same as face-to-face or even over FaceTime.”
Chabris turned that feeling into a plan of action for the start of the 2020-2021 school year. She created the IHHS Corona Care Callers Program. The mission of the program is to create meaningful connections between students, particularly those who are part of Indian Hill’s Brave Virtual Academy (BVA), a new learning option for Indian Hill families wanting to study in a flexible, online environment.
“It is our hope to build connections between our kindergarten through grade eight students enrolled in Brave Virtual Academy and our high school students; we want all of our Braves to feel connected,” explained Chabris.
When Chabris shared her plan with fellow Indian Hill High School students, more than 100 signed up to volunteer their time. Working with Brave Virtual Academy Supervisor Dr. Kim Given, Chabris emailed BVA families to distribute program details and open registration. Once registered, the volunteer high school students coordinate directly with BVA families to create virtual meetings. Chabris plans to offer these virtual meetings between students either weekly or monthly depending on schedules.
“Amazing,” said Indian Hill High School Principal Jeff Damadeo. “What Sophie has created is absolutely fantastic, and it is a true representation of what it means to be a member of our Brave family. We are all in this together!”
“I want to offer a big thanks to my parents and my principal, Mr. Damadeo, for supporting me and helping me launch the program!” said Chabris. “I hope that this project helps students who are feeling the same I was during distance learning.”
Photo caption: Indian Hill High School student Sophie Chabris has a virtual meeting with Indian Hill Elementary School Brave Virtual Academy student Chase Peterson.