Social Media
A Hashtag Supports Us During a Pandemic
BY MARY R. NORTON/School Administrator, March 2021

FRIDAY THE 13TH typically elicits thoughts of scary movies.

However, to Virginia school districts, including Virginia Beach City Public Schools, the reference to Friday, March 13, 2020, remains even more jolting than your typical screen thriller. It marks the day our governor closed schools for all students due to the growing threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the school buildings were quickly closed, the learning could not stop as we navigated this uncharted territory.

Staff Conception

Staff at all levels quickly pivoted to meet students’ basic needs, which included food service and technology support. But we needed our students and families to continue to feel connected to their school and the district while in this unfamiliar instructional environment.

With face-to-face learning halted, no longer would social media be filled with references to field trips, classroom learning experiments, student photos or staff videos. Facing the huge educational upheaval, we had to find ways to nurture a vital connection between families and educators during this global health crisis.

District staff began brainstorming, and the answer became a social media hashtag — #VBAlwaysLearning.

Building the Plane

The intention of #VBAlwaysLearning was to keep all stakeholders connected to how our almost 67,000 students continued learning at home during the statewide closure. The uncertainty required drastic changes to happen overnight. As superintendent Aaron C. Spence said, “We are building the plane while flying it.”

We needed to manage something never done before because our students and our staff needed us. Our small hashtag turned into a key part of the novel plane that we were constructing and navigating concurrently.

As soon as schools closed, our social media was inundated with posts from parents, community members, staff and students posting questions, comments and concerns — but once we launched #VBAlwaysLearning, the focus shifted from fear to fortitude.

Flourishing Hashtag

After the hashtag’s launch, we watched our social media channels flourish with exactly what we expected — adorable photos of students in their homes and staff members working virtually. What we didn’t expect was the path the hashtag took. It became its own form of school.

Quickly, #VBAlwaysLearning was filled with relationship-building posts. Colleagues shared lesson plans and strategies for connecting with hard-to-reach students. Families posted about their children’s classes and what was working and what wasn’t.

Meanwhile, students in pajamas diligently shared their own “wins” and “how-tos” with their classmates. TikTok videos offered physical education instructions for dances and stretches, and administrators used the hashtag to show support and offer guidance. Teachers engaged students creatively using in-home cooking lessons, and even sharing a previous year’s snow day video to highlight the math and science around a winter storm.

Education can take on many forms, but the necessity of being connected, of keeping a semblance of normalcy and ensuring students feel loved and cared for by their teachers and staff, can never be overlooked, and that’s what #VBAlwaysLearning provides.

Continuing Connections

Before COVID-19, social media allowed idea sharing, but the pandemic permitted our district to take on the challenge of staying connected in an evolving and uncertain environment.

Recently we passed another Friday the 13th (last November), but this cult classic date no longer registers fear.

Nearly a year since we first closed school buildings, #VBAlwaysLearning continues to be used by stakeholders. Ideas swirl around and land in the virtual laps of students, teachers and administrators, but as in-person instruction returns, one thing from the shutdown that remains is the grit, tenacity and innovation of our teachers, students, administrators, families and staff. They stayed connected when everyone needed it the most and proved that virtual learning happens in many different ways.