Local parents struggle with the New Reality of COVID-19

Written by WZND Newsroom on March 30, 2020

Photo courtesy to District 87 website

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.- Local parents try to adjust to the new way of life that has affected their home.

“We struggle in our household,” said Dan Seaway, an employee at State Farm and parent of Devon.

Devon is a student at Oakland Elementary School.

Seaway is working from home during the day. Devon’s mother, Lisa Fay has been working day-in and day-out as a medical-surgical nurse at Advocate BroMenn Medical Center.

Fay recently had a patient who tested positively for the Coronavirus last week.

“Her work days are all over the place. She’s taking an online class, so we have tried to make a schedule of learning. It’s really a hit or miss when it works,” said Seaway. “We try to stay in as much as possible, but it’s so hard. Mr. Lafrance really cares about his students and tries to keep them focused on learning.”

Oakland Elementary principal, David Lafrance has been hosting Facebook live videos and asking the students to send pictures of them busy at work.

“During the temporary school closure, District 87 is introducing Remote Learning Days to continue strengthening relationships and providing education for all students,” according to Bloomington Public School District 87. “The first week of Remote Learning will be focusing on reconnecting with students, setting expectations and delivering learning activities.”

Navigating this new reality may be tough, but students like Devon are finding out what works for them during this pandemic.

Photo courtesy to Dan Seaway.

“Devon would much rather watch videos on his tablet, but he recently got into the Kinect for the Xbox for some sort of physical activity at least,” said Seaway. “I really hope to get the learning and back in track because I doubt they will finish the school year, which is really sad.”

For information on Oakland Elementary COVID-19 updates visit https://www.district87.org/