This is one in an occasional series of stories about Cherokee County educators going above and beyond the call of duty this school year.
Murphy – Sara Hickey dressed up a football player and boarded the Parent Engagement Bus to visit Murphy Elementary School students who are remote learners on Oct. 21.
She – along with student teacher Dianna Peterson and gym teacher Tyler Edwards – delivered report cards, food, a book and a Halloween treat to each of the students. It took about three hours to travel around town and visit 34 students.
“It was really great to see the kids,” Hickey said.
She said this was something her school decided to do, knowing remote learners will miss out on special activities the school hosts for students for Halloween. This was just one way teachers like Hickey have been going above and beyond to work with students this school year.
“Doing face to face and remote at the same time is very hard,” said Hickey, who teaches second grade. “Balancing both sets of students is challenging.”
She has been helping both her in-person students and remote students interact. Like other teachers in the school, she’s hosted Google Meets in the classroom, allowing both sets of students to learn together at times.
Hickey feels fortunate to have Peterson as a student teacher to work with the students in the classroom when she needs to focus her attention on a remote student’s needs. To help her engage young students while wearing a mask, she’s had to be be very dramatic and enthusiastic while teaching.
“It’s been very difficult, but I feel very fortunate we’ve been back face to face four days a week,” Hickey said. “We’ve been trying really hard to make it fun.”
She also understands how tough it is on parents, as she is a parent of a fourth-grader and a pre-kindergarten student. At the end of the school day, she works with her own kids as she cleans her classroom and prepares for the next day.
Adjusting to the new technology has been a struggle for her, too. She said the parents have been really great.
“We have lots of conversations with our remote kids’ parents,” Hickey said. “You just have to build a great relationship with them for it to be a success.”