As the lone science teacher at Berkeley Lake Elementary, Kathy Bentley teaches all 798 children at the school. From pre-school to fifth grade, she supplements the lessons from their main teacher with hands-on experiments and additional activities like maintaining the school garden and hatching butterfly eggs.
And while right now the learning is at a distance, she wanted to find a way to let them know that the caring is never far away.
Living in the school’s attendance zone, Bentley has many students as neighbors. So she began drawing chalk messages in her driveway.
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“We had so much rain for a while that nature kept erasing them, so I’d do another once the cement dried,” she said.
The first few included her name so the kids realized they were from Ms. Bentley.
“I can’t go to the grocery story without running into one of my students,” she said. “One Halloween I dressed up as a science teacher,” she laughed. “The kids who didn’t know I lived there found out right away.”
Even though Dominque Cook has only one child, digital learning days coupled with working from home was sometimes stressful. Her first-grade son, Isaac, took well to school at home, but quickly ran out of things to do.
“Both my husband and I work from home right now and we can’t always do our work and make sure he’s occupied,” she said.
One activity that has become routine is the morning walks past Bentley’s house to check out the chalk drawings.
“It’s a great constant when so many other things are changing almost daily,” said Cook. “It’s a bright spot to start our day.”
Dr. Jennifer Shu, an Atlanta pediatrician, medical editor of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ HealthyChildren.org website, and a mom applauds Bentley’s effort to connect with students.
“That’s perfectly in tune with the age group and can help children cope with home-schooling situations that may be challenging,” she said. “I have my own 9-year-old and all that’s going right now can be trying for families.”
A recently released survey from EdWeek shows that student and teacher morale is suffering, according to teachers and school district leaders.
“Maybe it’s the loneliness or disconnection from colleagues and friends caused by stay-home orders and school closures. Or the frustration with the limitations and technical glitches of online learning. Or maybe the constant drumbeat of news about the rising coronavirus death toll, skyrocketing unemployment rates, and the uncertainty of what’s ahead is just too much to handle,” wrote the researchers in the executive summary.
Between March 25 and April 8, educators reported that morale was lower than it was before the pandemic for 61 percent of students and 56 percent of teachers. Two weeks later, they said that 76 percent of students and 66 percent of teachers are in lower spirits than they were before the crisis.
Dr. Shu urged parents and teachers to allow students to express concerns about the pandemic, missing friends, etc.
“Support can come in many forms,” she said.
Bentley recently invited neighborhood kids to help her with a drawing.
“This feels like school,” said first grader Lily Parsons. “It’s all my favorite subjects in one — art and recess!”
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