TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Students will not be going to school in Indiana until at least May 1st. Teachers across the Wabash Valley are doing everything they can to still connect with their students.
E-Learning has yet to begin throughout the Vigo County School Corporation. That hasn’t stopped teachers around the corporation like some here at Dixie Bee Elementary School on the Southside of Terre Haute from keeping in close contact with their students.
The hallways at Dixie Bee Elementary School are quiet. The parking lot is empty. With school closed due to the Coronavirus, many students are thrown out of their routine.
First-grade teacher Judy Fendrick and Principal Mika Cassell at Dixie Bee Elementary School realize this is especially the case for elementary schoolers.
“Teachers feel compelled to still communicate to their boys and girls,” Principal Cassell said, “They like seeing them and they like talking to them. They are a huge part of their lives. They are with their teacher for six and a half hours a day.”
“When you spend as much time with those students as we do, throughout the day. They become like our own,” Fendrick continued, “We just want them to know that we care about them and they are still a part of our lives even if they aren’t seeing us each and every day.”
To ensure that, teachers and principals across the corporation came up with social media as an avenue. For instance, Fendrick reads to her students every day via Facebook videos.
She still gives out spelling words and even plays math games with them. Fendrick says this keeps the children going in this time of stress and uncertainty. Principal Cassell says this is simply an example of teachers going above and beyond, even when they don’t have to, for the benefit of our community’s children.
“Our goal is not to overwhelm any family by giving them extra work or extra information,” Fendrick said, “We just want to make sure we have that connection going throughout this time.”
“All teachers are just a caring group of people,” Cassell concluded, “They love children and they love being with them and so it’s important that their learning continues for as long as it needs to happen.”
E-Learning is set to kick off for Vigo County Schools on April 6th.
