Positive mindsets: La Salle County educators share their thoughts as students return to class

“There are so many things I learned while teaching during a pandemic. I feel the most important thing that I learned was that students need to be in school and in-person as much as possible. The interaction between teachers, classmates, and school staff proved to be so essential during this pandemic.”

—  Jennifer Ring, Dimmick Elementary school teacher

Educators are looking forward to retaining normalcy with the return of full-time, in-person learning.

The majority of school districts in La Salle, Bureau and Putnam counties begin classes over the next few weeks.

LeeAnn Raikes, a middle school English teacher at Marseilles Elementary, which began its school year Wednesday, and Jennifer Ring, a third and fourth grade English teacher at Dimmick Elementary, which begins its school year Aug. 25, are both excited to return with their students full-time.

Ring said the transition will be easier for Dimmick, since students were only at home e-learning for 13 days last year, a major change compared with the previous spring semester.

“There are so many things I learned while teaching during a pandemic,” Ring said. “I feel the most important thing that I learned was that students need to be in school and in-person as much as possible. The interaction between teachers, classmates, and school staff proved to be so essential during this pandemic.”

School districts across the region set back-to-school plans prior to their first day, with the overall goal of maintaining in-person learning.

Ring said she found many students need the stability and calm of a classroom setting.

Raikes said she believes the public’s view has shifted in favor of teachers because parents now better understand that school is so much more than just learning.

“I think students realize how important it is for them to be in person,” Raikes said. “So I’m just taking it as a positive all the way through. I’m actually excited.”

Raikes said powering through the changes with the pandemic has been good for educators, as they’ve had to shift their thinking on how to reach kids and how to make education better.

“Mindsets for all parties involved are going to make or break it,” Raikes said. “There’s no other way around it. If you go into this with a mindset that there will be problems, there will be behaviors and this that, and the other, you will get that. That will become your reality.”

Raikes said if teachers approach the return to school with a positive mindset, having the kids back at school will be good for everyone’s social, emotional and mental health.

Gov. JB Pritzker’s office mandated that all school districts in Illinois require masks to be worn regardless of vaccination status, a practice each district has put into place within its back-to-school plan. Students, however, will not be able to attend classes virtually, unless they are in quarantine or have permission from the district through an exemption. SHIELD Illinois, saliva-based testing, has been made available to all school districts to use as a tool for controlling the spread of the virus.

Ring said teachers and staff have been resilient and will continue to keep up the positive mindset.

“There were so many situations where we all stepped up to the plate and worked together to solve a problem within minutes,” Ring said. “Google Classroom and Google Meets were lifesavers for my students and myself. If a student was quarantined, they were able to easily access everything we were doing in the classroom.”

Justin Marxman, new principal at McKinley Elementary School in Ottawa, said there will be excitement for children returning to in-person learning this year: They will again be in person for special classes like music, physical education and art.

Marxman was a music instructor before becoming principal, so he understands the excitement teachers have about those courses becoming in-person again.

“I know teachers are excited about that and that’s going to transfer down to the students as well with their excitement for in-person instruction,” Marxman said. “We’re just really excited to see our students again. I know they’ve for sure enjoyed the summer and having a break from all the madness, but diving into a little bit more normalcy will give them a lot more learning opportunities.”

Raikes said the pandemic by itself has been an opportunity for every educator to learn that school is more than just academics. The entire situation has made life skills and adjusting to adversity a pivotal lesson teachers can transfer to their students.

“You know there’s going to be struggles, there’s going to be adversity in life,” Raikes said. “It’s how you approach it. I had students who self-assessed themselves and they were aware of their own state of mental health to a point where they could talk about it and address it. They learn about certain issues and other things like time management and address it.”

Raikes said she knows that with the growth she saw last year, this year will be eye-opening.

Ring said a hurdle teachers of younger students will have to address is the academic levels of the incoming kindergarten students who didn’t attend preschool last year.

“Educators did the best they could for the last year and a half, but I worry that some students will eventually suffer from the inconsistency of in-person learning,” Ring said.

It’s a concern for Marxman had as well, which is something Ottawa Elementary schools addressed with its kindergarten meet-and-greet Aug. 10.

Marxman said on the principal side of things, communications with parents are going to be key to make sure this school year goes as smoothly as possible.

“I’m going to make sure that I have monthly newsletters keeping parents informed of what’s going on in the building and we look forward to sharing that communication with parents and the community.”