Hello Susanville and Lassen County! My name is Shelley Bennett. I am a mom (of three), wife (to one for almost 25 years), teacher at LHS, a proud Susanvillian, and as of today a weekly columnist.
Jeremy has approached me a couple of times about taking a risk and being a writer and I finally decided to give it a try. He says I have a “voice” that is representative of our community and I hope you feel the same.
When I first started thinking about topics, it was obvious that Lassen High’s “Half of Homecoming” would be my choice. It was a great week that included dress up days, class floats, and a friendly Powder Puff game to cap it off.
Students turned up in costumes, our new ASB teacher Rachel Stewart facilitated and guided our leaders, and it just felt good to be “normal.”
Our drill team, cheerleaders, Cadet Corps, and drumline were allowed to go out on the football and strut their stuff. LHS administration and staff were supportive as usual and everyone followed the Covid guidelines.
Then the news of our switch to distance learning came and put it all into perspective.
Since March 18th, I have struggled to find the “good stuff”. My normally glass-is-half full personality has been knocked over. But, as always, my students have helped me find my way.
Last Friday I started my first class meeting on Teams, a virtual platform where we are able to lecture, introduce concepts, and walk students through their assignments. I honestly didn’t know what to expect. Would anyone show up? I waited anxiously.
Names and faces started to appear and I took a deep breath, ready to launch into our day’s lesson. I started in by welcoming the class, telling them how happy I was to see them, and that today we would focus on “theme”. There were no reactions, so I kept on. Finally, one student, a brave young man, said, “Mrs. Bennett, I don’t think your mic is working.”
I can laugh about it now, but on Friday I scrambled to adapt my lesson to a “chat” format where I typed out all the directions and hoped for the best. When it was time for the students to work on their own, I apologized for my technical difficulties and the same student who alerted me earlier typed, “It’s ok Mrs. Bennett. We’ll figure it out next time.”
Tears came to my eyes as I was reminded that we really are all in this together. My students will show up for me, just like I will for them. It doesn’t matter if it’s in person or virtually or if my mic doesn’t work, we will adapt and make the best of it. We are not alone. And that my friends, is the good stuff.
Remember when news was ‘newsy’? When you read about weddings, family events and engagement announcements in the newspaper? If you have something that might be newsworthy, please submit it to [email protected] and I’ll do my best to include it here in “The Good Stuff.”
