Some teachers did not feel safe coming to school this quarter and decided to teach from home. This arrangement has brought challenges, but also benefits. 

English teacher Mrs. Melinda Bundy Hon. ‘94 chose to stay at home for the first quarter and said she hopes to come back for the second quarter. Her reasoning to stay home is because she is in the high risk group and her room would be too cramped. 

Bundy taught for one semester at Crawfordsville High School, then began her Cathedral teaching career during the 1974-75 school year, when the school was located at 14th and Meridian streets, and has been a member of the Irish family ever since. In all those years, when last spring marked the first time she has used technology to teach from home.

She noted that when she first started teaching, showing a movie in class or typing on an electric typewriter might have been considered high tech. Bundy said she feels comfortable teaching from home, because she had time at the end of last year to hone her skills. Additionally, the school’s technology staff worked with her to ensure her internet and wi-fi connections would work each school day. 

Bundy said, “Although I don’t have any extenuating health concerns, it’s better for me to stay here at home because my room in Loretto Hall is small and too crowded and there was no way for me to socially distance from my students.” She is using what she learned from the spring eLearning to help her now. 

She is planning to stay home for one quarter, but will see how Covid-19 concerns have changed closer to the second quarter. “I’m hoping just for the first quarter. A lot of it depends on the statistics in Indiana if everything is starting to go down yet or not,” Bundy said.

With this change, she needed an adult to stay in the room to make sure that class was going to plan and to ensure that there were no technology difficulties. “There are two different ladies, (Ms.) Amy Weber, and the other lady is (Mrs.) Megan Schmidt. They sit down and come up with a schedule for the week and tell me who is going to be there which day,” Bundy said.

However, not being in class has also brought complications for Bundy, especially because she has not met some of her students prior to this year. Being on Zoom has not allowed her to be able to see every student, but she also has found other ways to get to know them. 

Bundy said, “My joy in teaching is to be with my students not to be on a computer with them but to actually be in class with them.”

Bundy is a long-time fan of Irish football, and she said she very much misses seeing the Irish play in person, although she has listened to the radio broadcasts. 

Math teacher Mr. Rick Shadiow also is teaching his classes from home. 

Editor’s note: Nick Saba contributed to this story.