Students get a special visit during school closure
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ST. IGNATIUS – The staff working to assist children on a daily basis at the St. Ignatius Middle School couldn’t take it any longer.
“We missed the kids so much,” said paraprofessional Diana Girsch. She explained that teachers and staff haven’t seen students since the school was closed on March 15 to help slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Paraprofessional Valerie Umphrey said the support teachers are in the school building to help students with online lessons through phone calls. “We are connecting digitally with the kids while they are learning from home,” she said.
Adjusting to the change has been stressful for some parents and teachers, and being at home has its benefits and problems for families, Umphrey said. “For some, this is a very stressful time. It’s a change in routine. The kids are home all day. We are dealing with new things we haven’t had to do before. It takes some adjustment and communication.” She encourages caregivers to talk with teachers and paraprofessionals if they are having any problems.
Even with the online connection, the children were still missed, so the support staff developed a plan to go see the kids while maintaining social distancing. “We decided to get on a bus and go see the kids,” Girsch said.
Paraprofessionals Melissa Smith, Angie Marquez, Umphrey and Girsch, along with student teacher Kenzie Sargent put together candy bags and went to deliver them to the kids without getting too close.
They loaded the loot onto a small white bus decorated with signs saying, “Wave if you miss us!” and “You rock.” The bus went around town and up and down the back roads to the homes of 26 students regularly assigned to the teachers when school is in session.
“The biggest reward we got was to see the smiles on the kids’ faces,” Girsch said. “It was a wonderful day.”
Sargent is a student teacher and the bus ride allowed her to see the students for the first time in person. “It’s been a lot more challenging to interact with the kids online, but we are making it work.”
The paraprofessionals said it took some adjusting to get the lessons online, but a little positive thinking keeps them going when issues occur like poor internet signals or software problems. “We just say, ‘We got this,’” Girsch said. “That is our motto.”
