PROFILE
classes . I manage online certificate programs , and I have an extension appointment – so I do field visits , magazine articles , seminars , STEM camp , and I serve on industry boards .
My typical day would be teaching classes , developing extension materials , answering phone calls , managing and planning . Right now , we are busy putting together the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation ( OTF ) conference and show for December . We are lining up speakers . I also serve on the Ohio Chapter STMA ( OSTMA ) board .
The majority of my extension work is based around seminars and conferences . I get invited to speak at a lot of places , I put together the program for the OTF conference in December , and we put a spring conference on as well . At the turf farm we work with 4-H groups and FFA and other youth groups . We have other events around Ohio where I try to have a presence . I write articles for OTF , OSTMA and STMA . And I maintain a social media presence as well .
SFM : What has the last year and a half been like for you with regard to getting through COVID and related challenges ? knowing that there were students at home or on campus alone and isolated , feeling disconnected from me and the university ; knowing that they were struggling , and not knowing what to do about it .
But teaching online was not a concern for me , and I ’ m still online until spring ( my first face-to-face class will be in the spring ). I ’ ve developed projects and assignments the students can do that are interactive . It ’ s not just , “ Read this article and answer a quiz .” I try to make it interactive as much as possible .
From a personal standpoint and being at home all the time , my kids were out of school completely from March 2020 to March 2021 . I have two boys , ages 15 and 12 , and I was a home schooler – every working parent was . My husband was working from home as well . Instead of everybody eating out all day long , everybody is eating in all day long , so there is triple the mess , triple the housework , and triple the noise . I ’ m sure we struggled like everybody else with four people in a house all day long every day . But I was extremely fortunate that I could work from home , and I didn ’ t lose my job , and my husband didn ’ t lose his job , and the kids did okay at school . So you can ’ t ask for more than that .
Sherratt : From a work standpoint , because I have been working with online classes and online certificate programs for years , online teaching didn ’ t frighten me . I know how to develop online material , I work with videos , and I know how to make interactive projects for students that can be done online . So it was an easy transition for me . But I know the students struggled with it , because they missed that human interaction . So we would have one meeting per week where we would just talk about the best restaurants in town or they would come on and show me their pets or their houseplants . The biggest struggle for me was feeling frustrated
32 SportsField Management | October 2021 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com