This week marked the end of the 2020-2021 academic school year in Lexington. The coronavirus pandemic made it one that will be remembered by many students, teachers, and parents for a long time.
During an event on the last day of school Tuesday, Acting Fayette County Schools Superintendent Marlene Helm reflected on the last nine months. “Teachers were teaching, staff was supporting, parents were engaged, and our students were learning. So, don’t ever think this was a lost year. It was a strange year. It was a year we don’t want to repeat. But it was not a lost year,” said Helm.
Helm, who took over leadership of the state’s second largest school district upon the sudden death of Manny Caulk last December, said he thought highly of all educators and would have been proud of students stepping up. She told those gathered she had received a book called “Pandemic Press”, which included reflections of elementary students. “If you didn’t think that our children were paying attention to both the big things and the little things…read this book,” noted Helm.
Helm called it a look at how ten and eleven-year-olds perceived and understood what they needed to do and how the future was going to be. The school district leader said 40,000 chrome computer books and 2500 wi-fi hot spot devices were distributed this year, while three million meals were served.
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