Community News
Bleckley Elementary staying connected with students despite school being closed.
By Dave Whitaker
Mar 28, 2020, 16:13

Yesterday would’ve been Art Day at Bleckley Elementary. For those unaware, Art Day is one of the themed days BCES does each year. It usually includes students getting to create their own works of art as well as guest artists such as potters, woodcrafters, photographers and musicians.

But with school shut down due to COVID-19, there were no students and teachers to hold any type of day Friday. However, it didn’t stop Art Day from taking place.

There was a “virtual” art day held online Friday via Facebook. According to an email from BCES Art Teacher Donna Smith, the idea started when office staff member Brenda Steger called her earlier in the week to mention Friday would’ve been Art Day. The two talked about how they could get something together under the current circumstances.

From their discussion came the idea to host an "art day" on the art room Facebook page. Steger and office secretary Valerie Nobles made calls, Smith sent emails to people previously scheduled to appear, looking for submissions to the page. She said they also contacted as many teachers and students as possible to ask for contributions.

Smith said, “We had a great response,” and it was better than she expected. Contributions to the page came from teachers, community members, as well as middle and primary school students. You can view the page by going to https://www.facebook.com/bleckleyesart/ She added “It also helped me and other teachers connect to our students in a wonderful way.”

Another example of BCES teachers and staff staying connected with students is by hosting virtual “theme” days via the school’s Facebook page. Themes such as “pajama day” and “neon day.” Parents share pictures of the children (or in some case themselves), participating. You can see more by going to https://www.facebook.com/bleckleyelementary/

Principal Jenny Brooks said in an email several teachers posted a video to the school’s YouTube channel operated by staff members Vonda Bryant and Tanya Manning yesterday.

The channel is used for the daily school news updates done during the year. You can find it by going to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcW2wqMlmKyKOlwuAHvQ3rQ or by searching “BCES Best News” on YouTube. Brooks added, “These are just a few things we doing to stay connected to our kids, staff, parents, and community.”


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