Church School at Home!
project management - education - GRAPHIC Design - email campaigns - print design
How do we engage the youngest of learners in faith-based education while they’re stuck at home? That was the central question posed by Christ Church Bronxville’s Christian Education team during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Christian Ed team pulled me in to oversee the digital and creative production of a 16-week course. After studying how other schools and church education programs pivoted, we knew that Zoom burnout and computer fatigue were a real problem. It was going to take more than just YouTube videos to keep children engaged. Insert Church School at Home!
Each student received a Church School at Home box with everything they needed for the semester: art supplies, reading materials, a workbook, and even a prayer book signed with a personal note from the clergy. Every week, our team recorded a story and lesson of the week and sent it out via email. The emails contained a step-by-step guides for the children and parents to follow along at home with.
To keep the students safe, we knew the semester had to be mostly virtual. However, to keep the children fully engaged, we knew there needed to be some “real life” elements incorporated in the experience:
Mentor Check-Ins - Understanding the burden that at-home learning can put on parents, we assigned each child with a Church School mentor who could assist them with the course if needed. These volunteers not only helped the kiddos stay on track with their assignments, but also provided a much needed point-of-connection so that the families stayed engaged with the parish.
Children’s Art Wall - The children were invited to bring their creations into the church building to put on the Church School art wall, in a safe and socially-distanced manner, of course. The art wall made it so that when the kids entered the church space, they would see tactile evidence of their friends also engaging in this semester.
In-Person Special Events - During the semester, we hosted four special socially-distanced, outdoor events to supplement the Church School boxes.
These non-digital elements helped keep the children engaged and bridged enrollment now that they are meeting in person again.
Church School at Home has been applauded by the Episcopal Diocese of New York, who has used our program as a model for their long-term virtual education platform currently in development. Their goal is similar to ours: to make Christian Education accessible to a larger audience regardless of location!