Newton Parrish special ed teacher focusing on positives created by pandemic

Jan. 21—Tonya Lewis understands the negative impacts the pandemic has had on students and teachers because she sees it every day in her classroom at Newton Parrish Elementary School.

Lewis has been teaching at the school for 32 years. She has taught first grade and fourth grade, but currently is a special education teacher there.

Steve Bratcher, the current Owensboro Public Schools chief academic officer, previously was the principal at Newton Parrish. He worked with Lewis as a colleague, and as her principal for many years.

When she told him a few years ago she wanted to begin teaching special education, Bratcher was excited.

"It was like a renewed passion," he said. "Tonya has always been seen as a leader at Newton Parrish that always expected the best from her students."

He said her goal-driven purpose is to see her students succeed.

Now more than ever Lewis has been laser-focused on that objective, but she, like other educators, feels the weight of the coronavirus.

She considers the past two years to be some of the most difficult of her career, she said.

There is a substitute shortage, and she and other teachers in the building have to step up and cover classes during their planning periods or down time.

They also have taken it upon themselves to clean and sanitize their rooms multiple times a day, and they aren't able to share physical resources as much as they could before, for fear of spreading more germs.

Most of all, Lewis said, she can sense the anxiety and nervousness from her students and her co-workers.

"For the longest time, we were dealing with the population that could not be vaccinated," she said. "We were always afraid we would get our students sick. We still are."

She said students are stressed, and that shows in their everyday school life. They have had to deal with a lot, and now they are all in the midst of picking up the pieces after more than a year of disrupted learning.

Students are working hard, and it shows, Lewis said.

"I see many good things going on in the classrooms, and the kids are so happy to be here," she said.

For as many bad things the pandemic has shown a light on, there are also positive changes that have risen from the past two years, Lewis said.

For example, student access to district-issued technology has significantly improved. Kindergarteners now know how to log onto Google Meet meetings by themselves.

Also having a non-traditional instruction plan for remote learning has already proven to be beneficial since schools returned from winter break.

"When it snowed and closed school, we all had a plan," Lewis said.

The school system has also utilized the NTI plan when it had to close this week due to staff shortages brought on by COVID-19.

"Kids all took their computers home, and we were able to review and continue the flow of learning," Lewis said. "I was able to connect with some of my students who were having problems, and we were able to talk through them. That's a good thing."

The COVID-19 federal relief funds the district received has allowed more teachers to help students as they struggle to rebound from learning loss.

With the addition of those extra teachers, Lewis has been able to lighten her caseload of students. That, in turn, has helped her spend more one-on-one time with those who need additional instruction and interventions.

Lewis tries to focus on the good that has come from the pandemic, more than anything.

Focusing on the positives, she said, will make us all better people somehow.

"We just want our kids here as much as possible so we can teach them and help them get through this together," she said.

Bobbie Hayse, bhayse@messenger-inquirer.com, 270-691-7315