No one ever said teaching is an easy profession, but coronavirus school closures mean that Blanco teachers are doing more than remotely instructing students in their usual classes. They’re also teaching their own youngsters at home and providing a support system for stressed-out parents.

It’s been a time of learning for three Blanco Independent School District teachers with more than 40 years of combined teaching experience.

Julie Young has taught first grade at Blanco Elementary for seven of her 12 years in the profession. Matt and Jane Karnes are teachers and coaches at Blanco High School. Matt has been teaching for two decades, including six years at Blanco ISD. Jane has a decade of teaching under her belt, including five years at the district. She’s been a coach for 20 years.

For Young, coronavirus is more than a weird word that appeared, seemingly overnight, on news headlines around the world.

It’s all too real.

“My mom, who lives in Comanche, tested positive for coronavirus,” she said. “She and my dad have been in quarantine for the past month so we haven’t been able to see them, which has been difficult. I’m so thankful for technology like Facetime.”

Her mother received a negative test last Tuesday, meaning she no longer has the virus. Her father, who never contracted the virus, left home quarantine last Monday.

Blanco County has had six confirmed COVID-19 cases and 15 likely cases, according to Blanco County Emergency Management on April 23. Six people have recovered so far.

Parents and teachers

Young is a mom of three Blanco students—two juniors and an eighth-grader.

“Presley, Gavin and Trevin have all adjusted well, but they miss being in school,” she said. “The end of the school year is full of school activities and they’re disappointed that many were canceled.”

The Karnes’s have two kids: Kelly, a freshman, and Justin, a sixth-grader.

“We’ve been doing well but, like most people, we’re getting a little bit tired of being stuck at home,” Matt said. “The kids miss their friends and playing sports.”

Jane said that it was unusual for their busy family to even be at home, between teaching and sports.

“It’s hard to go from seeing hundreds of people a day to no one, but having schedules for the kids has really helped,” she said. Matt gets the kids going with a morning workout, followed by reading time and online lessons.

Jane feels blessed.

“Our family is close, so having dinner as a family and game or movie time in the evenings has been a blessing in the midst of all the uncertainty and chaos,” she said.

Matt and Jane said the biggest challenge they’ve faced is not being able to see their students and colleagues every day.

“Students and teachers can sometimes butt heads over small things, but right now I’d give anything to have that back,” Matt said.

Teachers thrive face-to-face.

“One of our greatest joys in life is the daily face-to-face interaction we have with our students and athletes,” Jane said. “To have that suddenly taken away has been a difficult adjustment.”

Matt said parents are keeping their kids on track.

“If I don’t hear from a student for a week, I’ve had good luck getting ahold of parents to make sure they’re doing all right.”

Zooming and Googling

Teaching long has been a real-world tradition, but now the district has ventured into virtual educational approaches.

The district has had mixed success with online learning.

“Some families don’t have good internet connections, or internet at all, so we give them packets with instructional materials every few weeks. When this first started, we handed out over 100 laptops to kids,” said Blanco ISD Superintendent Clay Rosenbaum. “Students who have been able to connect with us have had good success. The most difficult part is being able to reach students remotely who have a question. They can email or call and our teachers will help, but sometimes we might not know they need help.”

Students in need of a computer are able to check them out through the school district.

The challenges teachers are facing can vary by grade level. Older students already are tech-savvy, but hands-on activities are crucial to wee learners.

“It’s difficult not to see my students daily, watching their progress in the classroom, but parents are doing a wonderful job of helping them through lessons and asking me questions,” Young said.

Young has made the most of the weekly Zoom meetings. Zoom is a remote conferencing application.

“It gives me an opportunity to check in with them and let them show me their work for the week,” she said. “We spend a lot of time visiting and I love hearing what they have to share.”

Teachers also are doing video lessons and monitoring students’ online lessons.

Matt, who teaches ACT-SAT prep, transitioning to college, financial literacy and employability skills to high school seniors, has been making sure the newly minted adults are meeting scholarship and financial aid deadlines.

Jane teaches English, which is heavily focused on reading analysis and written and spoken communication.

“That’s hard to do when we’re not in a classroom setting,” she said. “I normally have a lot of small group and whole group discussion so it’s been a big adjustment going to online learning where it’s mostly me giving one-on-one feedback.”

Jane said that students who are using only paper-based materials are facing some additional challenges.

“Many of my students have access to the internet and Google Classroom, so I can post instructional videos, administer assignments, and give feedback that way, but it’s hard not to be able to give instant feedback to those students using packets.”

Zoom is now a much-needed communication tool along with email and enotes.

Matt said the new technology has been easier than he thought it would be.

“I hadn’t used Google Classroom or Zoom before and I’ve found those tools to be fairly easy to use and quite useful in communicating with students and colleagues.”

The future

Rosenbaum said that the district could continue to use some aspects of remote learning, even when the coronavirus pandemic is in the rearview mirror.

“We might continue to use remote learning, such as if a student gets home and realizes they need help they can reach out remotely. Some kids might work better that way and we could look into remote teaching,” he said. “Education will never be the same, but I think we’ll change for the better.”

BISD will weather this storm.

“Our kids make the difference: They have a great work ethic and they want to do right,” Rosenbaum said. “We have good families in our district who are willing to get behind us and help in any way they can. It’s a close-knit community and everybody wants to do what’s best for the kids.”

Young and the Karnes’s have been helping students get through this time.

“I’m heartbroken for the seniors who are missing out on what are truly milestones in a young person’s life,” Jane said. “However, I know that lessons learned in the midst of trials can forever change a person for the better. I’m hopeful that our seniors will come out of this with a renewed sense of purpose and strength to face any challenge that comes their way.”

Jane said that she’s learned not to take anything for granted.

“Often at this point in the year, teachers and students are counting down the days until school is out, but now most of us would give anything to be in back school and finish out the year like normal,” she said. “The memories and moments we share with one another are truly precious. People and relationships bring such joy to our lives, and I’ll treasure them even more from here on out.”

Young is helping her students keep things in perspective.

“I tell them not to stress over their school work because I’m here to support and help them,” she said. “We will get through this together!”