CLOVER, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) Schools have changed because of the pandemic. Kids aren’t always able to get the same interactions and experiences because of it. Clover School District’s Kinard Elementary is working to change that developing a new program and first of its kind, “Persevering During the Pandemic”.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had some unseen effects on students, especially in earlier grade levels. A time where kids learn social and coping skills – now, looks like it never has before. This Clover elementary school is working to fix that.
One Kinard Elementary student says, “It’s a little hard but we get through it and we sometimes it’s a little hard for me.”
Three times a week students meet to review vocabulary, math skills, listen to guest speakers and learn how to interact with one another.
Kinard Elementary School’s Principal, George Smith says, “Our program is called PTP or Persevering Through the Pandemic, and it was birthed out of a need that our teachers, our parents, our students identified as an area that we are struggling to persevere.”
Students, grades one through five, are getting the opportunity to strengthen their social, emotional, reading, and math skills, leaders say that strengthening the skills through the pandemic will make them stronger on the other side.
Another Kinard Elementary student saying, “The pandemic doesn’t really help me make new friends.”
Helping students re-learn how to handle change and challenges – is something these educators believe will stick with them for life.
The school’s music teacher, Cherise Ishman, says, “Even just the experience of having physical touch, and just having that emotional intimacy, building friendships — they haven’t been able to do that at school and even still at school we can’t play how are used to, we can’t have that closeness. So, the social emotional lessons just help them to build their character, give them the opportunity to be around other students that might not be in their homeroom just to help them grow as a person.”
“I think we need to stand in the gap. So programs such as social and emotional learning curriculums, things that we can put in place to make sure we are addressing those needs, our most beneficial. I hope to steal the sub to make sure that we can target many of our kids in the school and hopefully to make a greater global impact on the society nonetheless,” says Smith.
In the video above, CN2 is speaking with the schools leaders and a few kids on how they’ve been able to rise above the pandemic.
