Oct 02, 2020
BELFAST — Editor's note: This past week, we received a letter from Nancy Nickerson's fourth grade class at Capt. Albert Stevens School. They asked to share their experience of attending school in what they called "a 'COVID Classroom.'"
This is the first in a series of articles by the fourth graders that will appear in The Republican Journal. We begin with the letter they wrote to us, and the first article follows.
Dear Republican Journal Staff,
We are the fourth grade students in Mrs. Nickerson’s class at Capt. Albert Stevens School. This school year is beyond different from all others. So, we thought the community would be interested in what goes on in a “COVID Classroom.”
We are hoping you would be willing to publish a few articles, each month, that we have written in our class, describing a sort of “day in the life” of fourth grade students who are going to school this year wearing masks, being reminded of social distancing, and still having fun and learning new things.
We are including an article so you can have a “taste” of the kind of articles we would be submitting.
We look forward to hearing from you and hope that we can write our COVID Classroom articles for your newspaper.
Please respond to Mrs. Nickerson’s email as soon as you can. If you would be interested in a Zoom call with the class we would be happy to talk more with you.
Thank you,
Mrs. Nickerson’s Fourth Grade Class.
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A visit with the principal
We invited Mr. (Glen) Widmer, our principal, to our classroom to ask him how he thinks things are going this year. These are some of the questions:
Student: How is it being principal this year?”
Mr. Widmer: I find being principal right now as “exciting and stimulating” and I feel safe about coming back to school.
Student: “Did you agree with the school opening back up this year?”
Mr. Widmer: “I definitely agree with the school opening back up. I would rather wear a face mask than not go to school at all.”
Student: “How do you feel about wearing a mask all day?”
Mr. Widmer: “I feel it is hard to wear a mask, so I take secret mask breaks in my office when no one is around!”
Student: “Do you think school will go back to remote learning before the end of the year?”
Mr. Widmer: “No, though I ultimately don't know. I am hoping the school doesn’t. I like in-school learning better than remote. I think the school is doing great, and everyone has worked hard to make it all work! Even the kids are doing great with wearing their masks.”
Student: “What are the positive parts of being in school during the COVID pandemic?”
Mr. Widmer: “I think the upsides about being back in school are many. I like eating outside with different classrooms every day. I love the outdoor classroom. So many classes have been doing some pretty fun activities and learning out there, and having some of the grades being able to go to Tanglewood for outside learning along with outdoor science instructor, Ms. Jenni, not to mention our school garden and all of the attention it is getting right now.”
Student: “How have you been staying healthy during this time?”
Mr. Widmer: “To stay healthy, I ride my bike to school. I think it is so important for everyone to take time for themselves, exercise and be outside breathing the fresh air.”
Mr. Widmer ended our interview by asking us a question:
“How do you kids feel about being in school this year?”
We answered: “We have definitely had to make adjustments. Some of us are not riding the bus anymore, we have to wear masks, we have to remember our social distancing. School seems to be more tiring this year. The days seem longer. But we also have good things about this year. We do much more outdoors. We are learning about acceptance and distancing ourselves. We also just like being back in school with our friends and not learning remotely at home."
