Meal distribution and remote learning continue for end of school year
Ginger Balo and Tonya Cooper helped distribute food on April 30 to families in the Coshocton City School District. (Josie Sellers)
With about a month of school left in the 2019-20 school year and the announcement this year will be completed remotely, the schools in Coshocton County are continuing strong.
Coshocton City Schools has been utilizing Google Drive to post all of its work bag information and blizzard sheets for easy access for parents and students, and all teachers are able to be emailed. Meal pickup for students is on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the elementary school.
Ridgewood Local Schools had used Google Classroom for a while before remote learning became necessary and will continue to use it during the remainder of the school year. In addition students have blizzard bags with worksheets they can complete so students can receive online or off-online lessons, whichever they prefer.
Mike Masloski, superintendent for Ridgewood schools, said the eighth-grade teachers created a unit in their curriculum that revolves around the coronavirus where students have been asked to complete assignments with COVID-19 as their backdrop.
“Our staff has been absolutely creative with their lessons during this time,” Masloski said. “From our cooks to our custodians, every single staff member has been great. I’ve never been prouder. We have the best staff in the world.”
Masloski also said, “We are feeding almost 1,000 students a week, and each student receives 10 meals for the week.”
Meals will continue to be prepared and served until May 21 when the school year ends. Bus delivery is on Tuesdays, using the afternoon bus routes. Students do not have to be present to receive meals, but someone needs to be present at each student’s stop at the afternoon drop-off time to receive student meals. Curbside service is on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4-5 p.m. at Ridgewood Middle School. Staff ask that trunks be popped, if possible, so meals can be placed in there.
Ridgewood can serve any child from birth to 18 years of age from any district and is willing to serve children meals that are at babysitters or daycares. For delivery service, email Michelle Stoffer at michelle.stoffer@ridgewood.k12.oh.us or call 740-545-5301.
“School is really an extension of the community, and we are here to provide relief and additional resources as needed,” Masloski said.
Dalton Summers, superintendent for the River View School District, said students in their district will continue to receive meals as well.
“We have about 350 students that receive meals, and we provide two meals a day to each student,” Summers said.
River View has four cooks at any given time working on preparing meals for the kids, and there are different distribution sites throughout the district. Summers further reported they can serve anyone under the age of 18 and that families who are not currently receiving meals can call and set up meals for those who are under 18.
River View has been passing out 10-day instructional packets and having completed packets dropped off at the same time the next two-week packet gets picked up. Thanks to the donation of 26 newspaper-dispensing machines, each school in the district has four machines in front of each building that are being utilized for night drop-off/pickup for the packets.
Summers said May is typically testing season, but “state testing was eliminated this year, so the plan is to try to use and cover the same material that would normally be taught.”
“Staff are getting more creative with assignments,” Summers said. “Assessment for grade level changes isn’t the same as normal, and kids are receiving pass or fail for the year based on completion of work.”
Teachers in the River View district are maintaining contact with their students through text, phone calls, email and Zoom classroom. Summers said teachers are trying to send handwritten notes as well.
“There’s been a lot of changes, but I am extremely impressed with the teachers, staff and administration with what they’ve been doing and how things have been going,” Summers said. “Our teachers are good at being creative, and I’ve noticed kids want to be in school as bad as they usually don’t want to be in school.”
Presently, Designs by Michele is printing yard signs for River View seniors. Half of the signs will be displayed in the city of Warsaw and half will be showcased at the high school. The pictures will rotate between the locations. In addition River View is working on signs that read “please support this senior by honking your horn,” and those will be placed in each senior’s yard.
River View also is scheduled to have a parade of staff driving by seniors’ homes on Friday, May 15. Similarly Ridgewood, in lieu of their traditional senior walk that usually takes place at the schools, will have a senior parade at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 8, starting at the stadium and going through town.
All three school districts are working hard to try to make this year a special year for the graduating seniors, and as they decide how to handle end-of-year events and how they want to honor and celebrate their seniors, communication with parents and students will occur.
Category: Education
