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Distance learning is hard enough when the power is on.
A teacher in Marysville is refusing to let COVID-19, wildfires or rolling blackouts get in the way of distance learning. Alicia Wright had just started her day early Monday virtually teaching her fifth graders at Browns Valley Elementary School in Marysville.
"The thunderstorms came into our area," she told KCBS Radio. "Pretty quickly, I started getting messages from parents and kids panicking, 'Hey, I can’t get online. What do I do? Just so you know we’re out of power.' And then moments later we lost power in the school."
Luckily, she was prepared.
"I learned a lot just from last year," Wright explained. "My school was shut down several days with the (Public Safety Power Shutoff) days, and I think that’s where I kind of luckily thought this weekend, I just need to get this done no matter what for when power does go out. I wasn’t expecting it to be this soon!"
All this as fires burned within five to 10 miles of the school.
Between the fires, heatwave, power outages and distance learning, Wright is refusing to let anything get in the way of her students’ learning.
"We’re just kind of going with it and trying to stay positive but it’s unlike anything I’ve experienced in almost 20 years," she said.
It is enough, one would think, to earn her the title of Teacher of the Year.
"I was nominated last year and it was cancelled because of COVID, so it was kind of funny," Wright laughed.