Photo By Norman Shifflett | FORT CARSON, Colo. — From left: U.S. Army Garrison Commander, Col. Nate Springer;...... read more read more
By Norman Shifflett
Fort Carson Public Affairs Office
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis visited Patriot Elementary School at Fort Carson, Colorado, Sept. 1, 2020, to hear from students, parents, teachers and staff. He conducted a roundtable discussion with attendees about returning to school; and how the school staff prepared the schools during the pandemic.
“How do you listen to all those community perspectives and have those conversations with parents and teachers about what a successful school looks like?” asked Polis.
Michelle Canon, principal, Patriot Elementary School, said they put new procedures and protocols in place to help ensure everybody’s safety.
“We spent quite a long time on procedures, safety protocols and making sure we were very consistent in our language,” Canon said. “It has been a tremendous ‘family effort’ — as we call it here at Patriot — with our community of parents and the support from Fort Carson.”
One overarching message the teachers and staff agreed upon was that everyone was excited to be back in the classroom or everyone seems to have quickly adjusted to the new safety protocols put in place, said one teacher.
“The kids have just done amazing,” said Bobby Garcia, fourth-grade teacher, Patriot Elementary School. “They are doing everything that needs to be done. They want to be here as much as we do, if not more.”
Garcia said they haven’t really changed much, except having added safety measures so everyone who enters the school feels safe.
Admittedly, teachers said they were nervous about coming back to school because they didn’t know what to expect. Even though they conducted virtual meetings, they still felt disconnected. Nevertheless, once back in school, getting to see everyone and see the protocols in place, their comfort level began to rise.
“They have definitely created a safe environment for me to come into work feeling very comfortable,” said Olivia Lee, kindergarten teacher, Patriot Elementary School. “When I feel comfortable it resonates onto the students.”
One parent, Aliesha Savoy, who is also a lunchroom monitor, agreed and said the safety of the school was good, even in this unprecedented time.
Savoy was happy to see all the guidelines put into place, and how well the students were adapting to them. She also noticed how happy the children were to be back in school.
Fort Carson has 11 Child and Youth Services centers, which include child development centers, school age centers and a youth center. A close partnership between these centers has been instrumental in sharing information and keeping the children and staff safe during this time.
Garrison Commander, Col. Nate Springer talked about what Fort Carson is doing to help with keeping everyone informed and the relationship with the school administration.
“We do a town hall that broadcasts bi-weekly to the community and we have tens of thousands of our Soldiers and Family members who watch that,” Springer said. “We have been in partnership with the administration over the last six weeks to be able to talk about what the expectations are of going back to school.”
The teachers and staff expressed their appreciation of Polis listening to their input. They said they felt honored to be recognized for the effort they put into the safety procedures and protocols.
“I am really excited to see Patriot Elementary go back in a safe way,” said Polis. “We are not going to let this pandemic take our future away from us. Our future is our kids, our future is education.”
| Date Taken: | 09.01.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 12.23.2020 15:17 |
| Story ID: | 385752 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 35 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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