Scott County Times
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2020
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NEWS
Service with a smile? See page A2 Easter fun. See page A2
LOCALS
Brown's 80th celebrated with social distancing parade. See page A3
WEEKEND WEATHER FRIDAY, APR. 17
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WINCHESTER, IL 62694
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VOLUME NO. 153 NUMBER 16
COVID-19 doesn’t stop FFA plant sale By CARMEN ENSINGER Scott County Times With folks being quarantined at home with little to do other than in their own backyard, many people are planting gardens this year, both floral and vegetable gardens. Winchester FFA has come to the rescue offering nice, big succulent plants at their annual FFA plant sale, although it isn’t your typical plant sale. Last week, Bryan Barnett, who is the ag teacher, opened up the new greenhouse to let people come in and buy plants. “Typically, we would have had the kids out here running the sale over a weekend, but COVID-19 has forced us to change things a bit this year,” Barnett said. “We couldn’t have the kids out here to help with the sale, yet we had lots of people asking us if we were going to have plants for sale this year.” Barnett said that before the school was forced to close, his Greenhouse Management class planted a wide variety of both floral and vegetable plants. “The kids did all of this before we were out of school,” Barnett said. “After all this started, however, I had to come in and transplant some of the plants but for the most part, the kids did most of it.” COVID-19 did have an effect on the project, though. “We weren’t able to do some of the things that we had hoped to do this year,” Barnett said. “We weren’t able to get any hanging baskets made this year and we would have probably done even more seeds.” But people who typically support the FFA through their plant sale and others who find themselves with a lot of time on their hands has flooded the greenhouse looking for plants. Friday morning, the greenhouse still had plants available, but the selection was sparce. “What we have in here right
CURBSIDE
Carmen Ensinger/Scott County Times
Joe Weder looks over the plants available for sale Friday morning during the Winchester FFA plant sale held in the greenhouse. Students planted the seeds before the schools were closed due to COVID-19 and Barnett opened up the greenhouse to allow customers to buy the plants.
now is a mere fraction of what we started out with,” Barnett said. “These tables were all full when we started out but the community has really turned out to purchase them and support our program.” Barnett said he didn’t have to advertise this year – the availability of the plants got around the community via word of mouth. “We really didn’t advertise it to everyone just yet because I didn’t want to be overwhelmed without any student help in here to do this,” Barnett said. “But, I had a handful of people that were persistently asking to come in and start buying plants,” Barnett said. “I figured if I was going to open it up to those people I would open it up to everyone. So, I sent an email to all the district teachers and it got out on Facebook.” In accordance with the social distancing rules, Barnett only let one person into the greenhouse at a time to shop.
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Scott County Times Obituaries listed in this issue: None
HIS
FIRST
EASTER
Submitted photo
Fifteen-month-old Stetson Dodd, of Winchester, is all smiles after going on his first Easter egg hunt and proudly holds up two of the eggs he found.
SIDEWALK
Carmen Ensinger/Scott County Times
SERVICE
Chris Hurrelbrink brings out more lunches to the table set up outside the front of Winchester Elementary for curbside pickup Thursday morning. Hot meals, including breakfast and lunch, are being served five days a week to all students in the Winchester School District 18 and under. In addition to the kitchen staff, teachers and volunteers also come out to help distribute the meals.
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IMPROVEMENTS
Utility Superintendent John Simmons oversees work on the new sidewalk in front of city hall on the Winchester Square Thursday morning. With the lobby shut down due to COVID-19, now is the perfect time to install the new sidewalk.
Winchester and Bluffs implement ‘remote learning’
students. By CARMEN ENSINGER In Bluffs there are access points at Scott County Times Westemeyer’s on the south end of town Both Winchester and Bluffs for Knoxville and Exeter students and school districts are now implement- in Naples they are working on getting ing “Remote Learning” for students an access point set up at Evandy’s through use of the internet and Google Boatel. Classroom. While some districts have a desigFor the first two weeks of the school nated time period for teachers to be shutdown, schools were given Act of available to students, Blankenship said God days to use. When Gov. Pritzker they opted to be more flexible. announced that the stay at home man“Our districts felt it was more impordate would be lengthened until at least tant to be flexible because we realize April 30, the ISBE issued a mandate that some of our teachers have kids that school districts were to educate of their own that they have to teach,” students through “Remote Learning.” Blankenship said. “We designated what Dual Bluffs and Winchester our expectations are, which is we want Superintendent Kevin Blankenship teachers to make contact with every kid said the transition will be seamless for on an individual basis at least once a Bluffs because the teachers are already week and so far the teachers have really associated with the system. responded to that approach.” “In Bluffs, we were already a one The work the students do will not to one school so we already had the be graded in the traditional A, B, C, D technology available to us,” he said. or E fashion. “So teachers in grades 4 through 12 “We have to get out of the traditionhad already been assigning homework al mindset of grading,” Blankenship through Google Classroom and all of said. “What I try to tell everyone is the kids already have devices so for that teachers now are responsible to them the transition is going to be pretty provide feedback to their students. We seamless.” want them to continue with the math, In grades K-3, both the old fash- science, reading and social studies ioned packets for homework and the but provide positive feedback on their internet are being implemented. work rather than a grade on it.” “Some of the teachers included For example, if a test has 10 quessome educational links in those pack- tions on it and a student misses two of ets because a lot of the students do those questions instead of getting a B have devices that they can access those for the assignment, the teacher will try links on,” Blankenship to find out what the stusaid. “So in addition to dent did wrong and help the traditional educa- “Our districts them get it right. tional resources in the felt it was more “We are encouragpackets for the parents ing the teachers to to do with their chil- important to be give positive feedback dren, they also have the flexible..." and help them get internet links to access through the areas where additional educational they are struggling,” materials on.” Kevin Blankenship Blankenship said. “Not The same protocol is so much grading the Superintendent being implemented in homework but trying to Winchester and while help the student.” the high school teachers have been While nothing the students do can using Google Classroom to making affect their grades negatively, teachers assignments digitally, it was new to are keeping track of the work in case it some of the elementary teachers. will benefit the student. “A lot of the teachers there have “Teachers still have to keep some never used Google Classroom so they form of track of grades in the trahad to receive a crash course in how ditional sense,” Blankenship said. it worked,” Blankenship said. “They “Assignments can help students but were instructed how to do video con- it can’t harm them. One of our focal ferencing and check in with the kids via points for the kids struggling is that this the internet.” is the prime opportunity to get ahead Last week, the district began loan- of the curve. Because while they are ing out Chromebooks to those students sitting home for six weeks, they can who did not have devices already. possibly improve their grades and not “We know not everyone has a have to go to summer school or have to device capable of getting on the inter- repeat the class.” net so we are making them available to As for students completing the those families,” Blankenship said. “As course work outside of the traditional of Friday, we had loaned out approxi- classroom, Blankenship said both dismately 30 devices.” tricts are seeing good results. It stands to reason if a family “From what I am getting from the doesn’t have access to a device then teachers is that we have a lot of particithey are also not going to have access pation and a lot of engagement at this to the internet. With this in mind, point,” he said. “It is not 100 percent Blankenship said he has worked with but there were kids before we went to area businesses and churches to pro- distance learning that were coming to vide free internet access to families. school and not doing their work.” “We have reached out to the comBoth districts are continuing their munity and partnered with several busi- free meal program distributing right nesses to make internet access avail- at 1000 meals a day between the two able to all of our kids,” Blankenship districts. said. “We wanted to make sure that “We serve about 340 breakfasts and families didn’t have to drive all the lunches per day at Winchester and way into town to get internet access. around 190 at Bluffs,” Blankenship We have it to where no one should have said. “We estimate that we have served to drive more than a couple of miles to more than 10,000 meals during the first get internet.” three weeks.” Blankenship said the Winchester Blankenship said one reason they District has partnered with Sloan’s serve so many is that they are serving Implement in Riggston for the kids in hot lunches every day. Riggston and Merritt to have internet “I know a lot of schools are servwhile churches in Manchester, Alsey ing cold lunches but we have opted to and Glasgow have created access points for the district to share with the (See, REMOTE LEARNING, A2)