DETROIT – Through this ordeal, we’ve seen so many people go above and beyond to make life feel just a little bit more normal for kids and that includes a Detroit Public Schools Community District Math Teacher, who’s switched gears in a big way.
Update April 22 -- Michigan coronavirus (COVID-19) cases up to 33,966; Death toll now at 2,813
“It’s been weeks since kids were inside of a classroom but one local teacher is still connecting with her students, she’s doing that through the art in magic and reading,” said Voncile Campbell.
Schools are empty. You won’t hear the sounds of children playing on the playground, even learning has changed. Many students and even teachers, already started the summer break, weeks ahead of schedule,” said Campbell.
“We heard a little bit about the Coronavirus, at that time, like it was a few cases reported but we didn’t know how big of a situation, it was going to become,” said Voncile Campbell.
Voncile Campbell, is a Master Math Teacher at Warren E. Bow School said everything changed, instantly. One minute she’s teaching her students, the next day, she’s at home, “I tried to come up with something, I said what kind of way, can I actually teach, to build upon that student/teacher relationship and staying in touch with my students? So I decided I would read a bedtime story,” said Campbell.
She also recorded a video of her reading, and posted it on social media, “Good evening scholars and friends. It’s time for tonight’s bedtime stories,” said Campbell.
It went viral, “That day, like I said, that was a Monday and I got emails from teachers as far as California and Idaho,” said Campbell.
You can watch the videos on Warren E. Bow’s official Facebook page here.
Even students from all over, reached out, saying how much they look forward to the stories. Meanwhile Campbell said reading the bed time stories, is actually helping her, “It became a comfort to me, to actually read the story, because just like a listener, you can escape for a minute and become that character, for a minute and forget about what’s happening around you,” said Campbell.
So what started off as one time thing, so she thought, is now a nightly routine, for everyone to hear and see.
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