January 2021 rustlernews.com
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Elementary staff and students emprace changes
PRINCIPAL reflects on differences by Marissa McMickle, staff writer The coronavirus has taken a toll on all of us in many different ways. Principal Luke Diekhans shares what precautions had to be taken for Riverview Elementary School to open back up. “We had to modify a lot of procedures,” he said. “How kids come in and out of the building, how kids are going to and from recess, where they can be at during recess. The lunchroom is another one where everyone has assigned seats and are spaced out as well.” Diekhans stated how lucky Riverview is to be a loop, so they can have a one way flow of traffic to minimize face-to-face contact. “They can go on the playground. The big thing with that is it’s like going to a PE class or something. You would have to gel in and gel out all the time, so when they leave their classroom to go out to recess, they would have to gel out and after they are finished they have to gel back in,” he said. Diekhans is considering keeping some changes to the school. “One of the pieces that has really worked well is not having people just walking into the building. We have them stop outside. It’s just a safety precaution as well that we are looking at in the future,” Diekhans said.
Like all schools, Riverview Elementary has made several changes due to the pandemic. Photos by Marissa McMickle.
Q&A; Lydia Comstock, Grade 6
Q: What has been the hardest part of everything? A: “Probably not being able to see the other class, just becasue some of my freinds are in that class and it’s not as fun to spend the rest of 6th grade year without them.” Q: How have you adapted? A: “Since we aren’t allowed to move our desks, my friends and I have come up with a hand language to talk to each other.” Q: What has this year looked like compared to the previous years? A: “It’s definitely been very different because we haven’t been able to see the other class. I think it’s for the best.”
Small Struggles in Kindergarten by Marissa McMickle, staff writer Kindergarten teaches kids life skills such as problem solving, study skills, and sharing. For kindergarten teacher Kristal Thunstrom, those skills are harder to teach this year than ever before. “I used to have tables so the students could work in groups and, with it being kindergarten, practice sharing crayons, pencils, scissors, and things. Now they have desks with the materials they do not share,” Thunstrom said. Most of the students know what’s going on because their parents talk about it. Thunstrom said there are more comments that there are questions. “I haven’t had a lot of questions, but most of them I feel like know, their parents or someone else has already kind of addressed it with them and they seem like they pretty much are aware of what is happening at a
5-year-old level,” she said. “I think the hardest part was when we had one out and then I had a class of only seven, it quarantined that many kids. With the few I had that were either out sick or had tested positive.” Thunstrom said because of the shut down before school ended last year, they had more time to plan for a not-so-normal school year this year, and it wasn’t rushed. “The biggest challenge for me is the fear, and it’s not even so much for me, it’s for my kids, it’s for their families, it’s for our community. My main fear is with the holidays. Once the holidays are done, I’ll feel a little bit better about it, Thunstrom explained. “I feel sad for the kids who are going to be quarantined over the holidays and not be able to spend it with people they usually do.”
