During shelter-at-hme directives, Dutch teacher Ingeborg Meinster-Van der Duin of Banick School in Haarlem, the Netherlands, knitted a doll to represent each child in her class.

Teachers everywhere have expressed repeatedly how much they miss their students since the coronavirus pandemic forced school closures worldwide. But no one can doubt the sincerity of Dutch kindergarten teacher Ingeborg Meinster-Van der Duin at the Dr. H. Bavinck School located in Haarlem, the Netherlands. She actually knitted a doll for each one of her students!

Ingeborg got the idea to knit the dolls when she saw a knitted doll on Pinterest one day. Without any previous lessons, she decided she was going to knit every one of her students a personal doll.

The creative teacher knitted 23 dolls, one for each of her students. Each doll took three to four hours to create, and each resembles the child it represents. She made sure every student who wore glasses or had freckles had these features represented on the dolls she made. She didn’t leave out any detail. When her students asked if there was a doll to represent the teacher, Ingeborg created one to represent herself.

During recent school closures due to coronavirus pandemic, Ingeborg Meinster-Van der Duin, a teacher at the Bavinck School in Haarlem, the Netherlands, knitted a doll to represent each child in her class.

To read more about this creative teacher, see this link at Shared.com.

Retired first grade teacher and reading tutor Susan Rokus of Loudoun County, Virginia, succumbs to coronavirus.

The professional community is mourning the loss of yet another educator who has been lost to the coronavirus. Retired teacher and reading tutor Susan Rokus of Loudoun County, Virginia, passed away on March 25, 2020. She was 73 years old.

Susan inaugurated her career as an educator in 1969 when she accepted a position as a first-grade teacher for Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS). During her career, she served at the old Arcola Elementary School, Little River, Liberty, and Pinebrook elementary schools. She retired in 2014. In retirement, Susan continued to serve her students as a part-time tutor for struggling readers. She tutored at two elementary schools in her district.

Susan was revered by those who knew her. “She is someone who poured her whole self into contributing to our community,” recalled LCPS Superintendent Eric Williams. In fact, just last year, Susan was recognized by Little River Principal Kevin Murphy as one of the core leaders of the school when it first opened 20 years ago.

Parent Rachel Hill shared memories on Facebook of her friendship with the fallen teacher. Hill remembered the days her son was a student in Susan’s class, going on class field trips together, and walking around the running track at a school together. “I will also never forget her spunk and sense of style,” Hill wrote. “That woman loved to dress and always looked stunning. She reminded me of my grandmother with her love for clothes and fashion and shopping.” Susan also had a reputation for her flare for distinctive decor, especially the leopard-print chair, shaped like a stiletto, that she kept for years at the front of her classroom.

“Her heart was so big. I’m not sure she realized how many children she helped,” wrote mourner Lisa Mitchell. Paul Pack, Principal of Liberty Elementary agreed.  “Her legacy in Loudoun is unlike anything I’ve ever seen because it’s generational,” he remarked.

To read about other educators who have succumbed to the coronavirus, see this article at Education Week.

Covid-19 claims the life of retired elementary school teacher Michael Ganci of Newington, Connecticut.

The Covid-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of many beloved educators. One of these is Michael Ganci, a retired elementary school teacher from Newington, Connecticut.

Michael was born on June 8th, 1945, in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Glendale, New York. As a young man, he attended Richmond Hill High School in Richmond Hill, New York, where he graduated in 1963. Michael earned his Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from Long Island University, and his Master’s in Education from Central Connecticut State University.

For many years, Michael taught at Ann Antolini Elementary School in New Hartford, Connecticut. Over the course of his long career as an educator, he taught more than 10,000 students. “Mr. Ganci was my fourth grade teacher,” recalls former student Lydia Gibb. “One of the reasons I became interested in science was that he made it fun. He was a wonderful teacher.” Former student Charles Blow agrees. “I remember him as my fifth grade teacher at the Ann Antolini school,” remembers Blow. “He was my hero at that time in my life! Because of him I looked forward to school every day,” continues Blow. “He was very good at drawing caricatures. He’d have us give him a word and would draw an amusing caricature that represented the word. I remember laughing so hard at what he came up with. He was very imaginative!” concludes Blow.

In addition to his career as a public school teacher, Thomas was also a fourth degree black belt, and served his community as a Sensei in Kyokushin karate at the New Hartford Karate Club. He was introduced to martial arts by his father, who had been an amateur boxer, and began his karate instruction in his early teens in New York. In fact, Michael pioneered one of the first accredited college level courses in traditional karate in the United States.

To read more tributes to this amazing educator, see his page at Legacy.com.

During the shelter-at-home directive ordered in resonse to the coronavirus pandemic, kindergarten teacher Karen Lee of Norfolk, Viriginia, shares the metamorphosis of caterpillars with her students online.

Every spring in her 30-year career, educator Karen Lee has introduced her classes of kindergartners to a lesson about caterpillars. This year, on the very day Karen introduced her young students to the caterpillars, her school closed down in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Karen took the caterpillars home. In the weeks since then, the veteran educator has been shifting her guided study of the caterpillars as they morph from caterpillars to butterflies into a lesson taught through distance learning.

Since the school’s closure, Lee told the Virginian-Pilot she has been recording and sharing online the metamorphosis of the caterpillars with her kids. The veteran educator has been sharing with her students everything they would have experienced in class. She’s posted videos of the caterpillar’s progress and let students know when they hatched last week.

It’s been difficult to adjust, Karen confesses. With younger children, it’s important to show them things they can see and touch. Digital lessons don’t  convey that as well as face-to-face lessons do. “I don’t know if I’m doing right or wrong,” she says. “I’m just doing what I feel like they need at the moment. They really need us.”

Karen earned her Bachelor’s degree in Science, Education, and Early Childhood Education and Teaching from Arkansas State University in 1989. She has been a teacher in the Norfolk Public Schools system in Virginia since 1999. Prior to accepting her position there, Karen taught for five years at Westside Consolidated in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and Lee County School District for three years in Florida. She currently teaches at the Willoughby Early Childhood Center in Norfolk, Viriginia.