Several Georgia colleges opened their doors this week for the fall semester with the dual goals of protecting students and teaching them hands-on courses such as carpentry and nursing amid a pandemic.
The challenge was on display in a dental hygiene class Thursday at Atlanta Technical College. Six students covered with face shields, masks and plastic protective gowns stood closely around the instructor, Krishana Cureton, as she reminded them to ask patients their medical history and showed them how to perform other tasks. In a nursing class, instructor Kendra Jackson-Smith and student Taylor Moore moved a mannequin in a bed while attempting to follow social distancing guidelines.
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“For a nursing student, it’s very important,” Moore, 25, said of hands-on learning. “I know we start clinicals next month, so we’ll actually be going to the hospitals and we’ll be working with real people. We have to have the hands-on training so we don’t jeopardize a life.”
Colleges struggled teaching these courses in March when they ended in-person instruction and went to online learning. Atlanta Technical leaders say they must find ways to conduct the classes.
“It was critical to find a solution because (these students) are needed in the workplace,” said Victoria Seals, the college’s president.
The college is attempting to follow social distancing guidelines by having fewer students — typically six to eight — in these classes. The classes typically have at least 20 students. Students arrive on campus for some courses once a week. Other classes are online. Everyone is required to wear a mask.
Atlanta Technical College’s enrollment is nearly 3,300 students, officials said. About 3,800 students were enrolled there last year, federal data shows. Seals attributes the decline to some students still making fall semester plans for their children, many of whom are starting the school year remotely.
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Students interviewed Thursday said they felt safe on campus. Quandravius Drake, 21, who is studying to become a barber, said he needed to be there to learn skills such as properly cleaning his hairstyling tools.
“These are things you can’t teach yourself,” he said.
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