Inside A3 Food pantry collecting Thanksgiving meals
Powhatan, Virginia B1 Track and field standout Greenhow picks up Division I offers
Vol. XXXIV No. o. 13
September 30, 2020
Division’s youngest students back in class full-time By Laura McFarland
said. Whether it is school meals, physical activity, class sizes, transportation, or planning ahead, it is a process of slowly adding back ways to enrich and enhance the school day for students.
Editor
POWHATAN – Powhatan County Public Schools is calling the planned transition that recently saw 968 elementary students heading back to the classroom five days a week a critical step forward for the division. Three weeks after PCPS opened for the 2020-2021 school year, all pre-kindergarten through third-grade students who were on the hybrid model transitioned from attending classes two days a week to five. The younger students were identified as the ones most in need of being taught in person as foundations are being laid. Pulling off the transition took a huge amount of planning and hard work and continues to be a fluid
A new look
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
Jill Dewey, first grade teacher at Powhatan Elementary, works on a grammar with her class. Prekindergarten through third-grade students on the hybrid model returned to in-person instruction on Sept. 14. Even her small 13-student class has to make adjustments to maintain social distancing.
situation, but the overall experience went “swimmingly,” said Tracie Omohundro, assistant superintendent for instruction. “While I said it went swimmingly, it didn’t mean that there wasn’t
some anxiety from some of our teachers. They were nervous,” she said. “They are very committed to the health and safety of their students and knowing how well it went in those first three weeks and the way
Sheriff expresses gratitude for community’s support
they were distanced and able to practice protocols and things like that, they wanted to make sure they could equally provide for the students when they came back fully face to face.”
Educators are constantly re-evaluating procedures to balance the need for creating an engaging learning environment and following health and safety guidelines to protect staff and students, she
Because of the need for social distancing in classrooms, many rooms that would usually have a mix of seating options were reconfigured to have students sitting at standard desks, Omohundro said. To fit all of those desks spaced 6 feet apart, teachers had to purge their rooms of many furniture items to reclaim the space. Collaborative tables and groupings of desks won’t happen for the foreseeable future because of see DIVISION, pg. 6
County leaders zero in on issues to tackle in comprehensive plan update By Laura McFarland Editor
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Members of Powhatan Sisterhood of the Traveling Spirits and Treats drop off gifts to the Powhatan Sheriff’s Office to show support.
By Laura McFarland Editor
POWHATAN – The gifts are an unexpected treat; the sentiment behind them is a much appreciated acknowledgement, Sheriff Brad Nunnally said. A group of local women who are part of an online group called the Powhatan Sisterhood of the Traveling Spirits and Treats recently dropped off a care package for the Powhatan Sheriff’s Office. It contained a tall pile of donated snacks and drinks, homemade cookies in the shape of badges that read “Thank you,” hand drawn cards made by local children, and a $25 gift card for every deputy and Virginia State Police trooper who works in the county. The group called it their “Dust the Blue” effort – a play on their mission of surprising friends and strangers alike with small gifts dropped off at their homes, which they call dusting. “Those were a small token of appreciation for how much law enforcement means to us here in Powhatan,” said Jessica Wilkes, the group’s founder. The gifts, while a surprise at the time, are not surprising in and of themselves, Nunsee SHERIFF, pg. 5
POWHATAN – The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors recently reaffirmed its commitment to delve back into the 2019 Long-Range Comprehensive and gave county staff direction on how to help them move the process forward. During a joint meeting with the planning commission on Tuesday, Sept. 22, the two groups spent a significant amount of time discussing what approach they see PLAN, pg. 4
PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND
Bret Schardein discusses updating the comprehensive plan with the Powhatan Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission.
Library wraps up summer reading By Laura McFarland Editor
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Mila B. won a prize during the Powhatan Library’s Summer Learning Program and brought a picture as a thank you.
POWHATAN – Despite the unique challenges of 2020 and operating in a pandemic, Powhatan County Public Library was still able to successfully offer a modified Summer Learning Program for children, adults, and teens. In the midst of dealing with closures and the slow return to limited services amidst COVID-19 precautions, the library’s interactive summer reading program with all of its in-person group events simply wasn’t a possibility this summer, said Caroline Shoenthal, youth services librarian. But because of a collaboration besee LIBRARY pg. 8
Knights of Columbus Pumpkin Patch opens for season PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND
The Knights of Columbus’ annual Pumpkin Patch will run through Oct. 31 at its regular location at Country Living Homes, 2504 Anderson Highway in Flat Rock. The patch is open from noon to dusk Sunday through Saturday. It will close at 3 p.m. on Halloween. All proceeds benefit charitable causes. Bring your camera to take family photos! Stand next to the ‘‘Great Pumpkin’’ and see how you measure up. Left, volunteers set up the patch on Sept. 24. More photos on page 3A