LEBANON COUNTY, Pa. — Schools are closed indefinitely and teachers at one middle school have turned to the internet to send a special message to their students.
Principal Dan Marks says, “We really just miss face time with our kids. Having been off for two full weeks at that point, we knew we were going to be welcoming them back in this format. It just worked out perfectly, that’s our way to say hi to them and step back into their lives”.
Faculty and staff at Eastern Lebanon County Middle School took on a big project to reconnect and say "Hello" to their students.
Over a dozen teachers got together and created a new version of Adele’s ‘Hello’.
After some intense singing and editing, they were able to upload it to YouTube and share it with all of the kids.
The response they’ve received from their students who have watched has been nothing short of rewarding.
One teacher, Madelyn Saunders says, “All of the students who have seen the video say they love it. They love every teacher in the video, they love everything about the video. So, I think we’ve heard the feedback that they want to see more”.
In the meantime, the teachers are making sure the kids are still able to learn through zoom calls, and the students are reacting in a way that the teachers never would’ve thought.
Another teacher, Angela Bicher says, “We’re getting very positive feedback; they’re doing great work. A lot of them are very excited to just have something to do again, which surprised me. They’re excited to be back at school and back at learning”.
Plus, there is more already in the works!
Faculty and staff have been bouncing around the idea of a new kind of homework for these kids.
Principal Marks explains that they’ve been thinking of, “Maybe throwing out a challenge to them and doing a collaborative piece with the students."
Most importantly though, the hope is that students and their families are staying safe.