Happy Thanksgiving!
Well, we're back in creative mode planning community education programming with the new governor’s orders. We're moving to virtual classes, planning make & take kits, and offering free holiday tips, tricks and projects on social media for families to do at home with items they most likely have laying around.
Our elementary students were in the middle of preparing the annual holiday play, “What do you do if the Elves get the Flu?” when we had to move to virtual practices. Then, instead of canceling, our amazing director, Heather Carlson, did a recorded Google Meet of their final practice. The kids all wore their costumes at home, ran their lines, and Mrs. Carlson put the recording together and shared it with parents! Pretty COVID-19 creative for finishing a performance! Parents shared their photos of kids at home in their costumes on the Facebook page.
We have canceled the following classes: Tech & Coffee for December and January, the last night of yoga, the high school holiday play, and karate. The American Girl Doll Book Club Christmas session will be held virtually as a grab and go night.
ECFE classes have been switched to an online class option with grab bags of activities for parents and kids to do at home for the whole month of December. Our preschool classes have been doing some amazing projects, books and online support for our families and kids helping prepare them for kindergarten at a distance.
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We are currently in the planning stages of a Santa Wave Parade through the town of Barnum. As per the governor’s order, as long as everyone stays in their cars, we can have a drive-thru event. Please stay tuned for more information on this parade, as we hope to partner with the food shelf for a food and toy drive at the same time. The Barnum Fire Department has graciously offered to drive Santa around town on the firetruck and use the fire hall as a drop off site for the food and toy drive.
“Make & take” kits for families with children of all ages will be available the first week of December. We will have family movie night kits, homemade Play-Doh, sugar cookies, Christmas ornaments, gingerbread houses, cooking kits, craft kits, and snowman building kits (just add snow). These will be available for fees ranging from $5-30 depending upon the kits. Watch the website and social media for what will be available!
Stay healthy,
Roxy Olsen-Hurst, Barnum Community Education director, rolsen@isd91.org , 218-389-0108.
"Community Education Corner," published weekly in the Pine Journal, features news from Community Education programs in Carlton County.
