Betsy Crosswhite says it felt like a punch in the gut when her son’s school closed to limit the spread of the coronavirus. That’s when she realized she would need to become her son Shane’s teacher and therapist.
About half of Gladys Marquez’s students can’t access the internet at home. Marquez teaches English language learners at Dwight Eisenhower High School in Blue Island on Chicago’s south side. The school serves predominantly students of color from low-income backgrounds.
Champaign Unit 4 school officials plan to distribute Chromebooks to students whose families do not have a device at home.
Caregivers and parents can still provide educational instruction to children at home, however. Numerous online resources are available for free to families with internet access, and many school districts are sending home both digital and paper packets of educational activities.
At schools across the state, essential workers show up each day to feed students, even while school buildings remain closed in an effort to contain the coronavirus. In many cases administrators and teachers are the ones delivering meals to students.
