In the age of the coronavirus, school closures mean a lack of face-to-face contact between educators and their students, plus a pause on after-school activities, playground time, sports, etc. But teachers have risen to the occasion, adapting to virtual classrooms and getting creative about other ways to stay connected to their students and communities — while still abiding by social distancing rules.
Here, meet nine teachers going above and beyond to delight and inspire their students amid the coronavirus crisis.
Teacher parade
The teachers of Robertson Elementary in Texas banded together for a drive-by parade to raise morale and show their students that they are here for them — even if it’s from a distance.
Honoring the graduates
Many people are mourning the loss of various milestones during the time — including the graduating classes of 2020. The principal and teachers of South Bend Riley High School in South Carolina got together to celebrate and honor their 225 seniors at home with yard signs and a megaphone.
Porch tutoring
When this sixth grader emailed her math teacher for help, he showed up at her house to work through the math problem outside of her front door.
Community pride
This is a confusing time for everyone, but our youth may have a harder time making sense of everything. This first grade teacher made a video for her students reassuring them that while they may be feeling scared or worried right now, they should also be proud of how they’re putting their community first.
Lunch break tradition
In life pre-COVID, this teacher ate lunch with her students on the last Friday of every month, and she wasn’t going to let that tradition fall to the wayside. Instead, she used the video conferencing platform Zoom to virtually eat with her students.
Driveway reading
This teacher noticed that one of her students seemed to be especially sad and shut down during a previous virtual Zoom class. The next day she went over to her house to read to her in the driveway — while they sat six feet apart.
Biking to (home)work
This teacher in Venezuela is determined to continue to educate his students while in quarantine, so he rides his bike to pick up and drop off their graded homework.
Going the extra mile — literally
The school closures are leaving millions of food insecure children across the globe at risk. This teacher in England is doing what he can to help. Each day he walks five miles to deliver meals to nearly 100 students who might otherwise go without.
Virtual puppet show
Three times a week, this Connecticut drama teacher puts on a puppet show from her from her front porch — cars and people (six feet apart, of course) line her driveway to come watch.
Bottom line: Our teachers enrich students’ lives far beyond what is required by the school systems — and these examples are proof. In these uncertain times, it’s heartwarming to see so many people going above and beyond for their communities. When things go back to “normal” — whatever that looks like — let’s all make an effort to continue to appreciate the people who showed up for us when we needed it most. This includes our healthcare workers, frontline essential workers, and yes, our teachers!
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