Parents launch ‘Covid Sucks!!’ activities to get 7th-8th graders reconnected

March 26, 2021 | By Greta Davis 

The sun was shining both days this past week as groups of Crossett Brook Middle Schoolers spent time  outside at Hope Davey Field playing wiffleball on what otherwise would have been just another remote school day.

In a video, Thatcher Brook Primary School art teacher MK Monley explains the parent-organized challenges for 7th and 8th graders on their remote learning days.  Screenshot

This brief interlude of normalcy in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic came about as part of an effort initiated by a group of Waterbury and Duxbury parents determined to get seventh and eighth graders more connected and active on the days they are not in school in person.

“Covid Sucks!! So let’s have some fun and earn cash!!” was the message aimed at the students and their parents this week, offering cash prizes to get outside, get creative, and get involved in their community. 

The program is spearheaded by the CBMS PTO in conjunction with local organizations Hannah’s House, the Alchemist Foundation, MakerSphere, Mud City Adventures, the Waterbury Conservation Commission, and the Waterbury Land Initiative. Organizers just a few days in declared the first week an overwhelming success. 

"Overall, I am thrilled with how the week went. Student participation was great. The community commitment has been fantastic. And we’re really looking forward to the next three weeks,” said organizer Dana Hudson, who’s also a parent of a seventh grader. “Just what we all needed as we come out of this pandemic."  

For most of this school year due to COVID-19 health guidance, students in grades 7-12 in the Harwood Unified Union School District are following a hybrid plan for school where they are in class in person two days per week. Classes are divided into smaller groups in order to follow the six-foot distancing guidance to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

At Crossett Brook, that means 7th graders are in school Mondays and Tuesdays, and 8th graders attend Thursdays and Fridays. Everyone learns online with their teachers and classmates on Wednesdays but on the other days, students are on their own with assignments. 

Once school work is done, however, there can be some long stretches of boredom and disconnection from friends. 

Tuesday’s 8th grade outing includes a lunchtime pizza treat before students head home. Courtesy photo

“A lot of kids I know are home, parents are working, and they have online school,” said Eliana Buckingham, a CBMS eighth grader.  “I am mostly home alone and personally it's hard to find something to do, to get outside, to have an activity.” 

State and local school officials are aiming for more in-person learning later this spring after teachers have received their COVID-19 vaccinations, but some local parents felt this wasn’t soon enough for their kids’ mental health. 

“We really think that the 7th and 8th graders are probably struggling the most,m” said organizer Scott Benson, a parent of an eighth grader and president of the Crossett Brook PTO. “Kids younger than that are in school at least four days a week, and kids older than that - they have some options - they have jobs, cars they can go places, where seventh and eighth graders are just stuck.” 

Hudson got the ball rolling on the project to create more fun for the kids with a Facebook post at the beginning of March. When she asked fellow CBMS parents how their seventh and eighth graders were doing on the three days of remote learning, she received an outpouring of comments from parents concerned about their kids.  

“Some were just saying they don’t have enough to do, they’re bored, my child is starting to feel depressed. But I was also starting to hear stories sharing some pretty concerning things happening,” Hudson said. “It didn't take long until a few of us started to say, ok what can we do about this? Let's do something!” 

That’s when the community support began. Hudson gathered parents willing to brainstorm ideas and Benson launched a GoFundMe online fundraiser. By crowdsourcing ideas and funds, the group within two weeks has raised over half of its $5,000 goal. Last Monday, they set their plan in motion. 

A message to students with links to the three categories of activities (getting out, getting creative, getting involved) features a video message from MK Monley, art teacher most of the students had when they attended Thatcher Brook Primary School and an active member at the MakerSphere cooperative creative studio in downtown Waterbury.  

“It’s been a long, hard year,” Monley says as she explains the program to students and invites them to give it a try. 

Students fan out across the playing field at Hope Davey Park for wiffleball and other group games on a remote school day this week. Courtesy photo 

On asynchronous days (when students are not in class in person or online) students can participate in organized covid-safe outdoor activities such as wiffleball hosted by Mud City Adventures, creative challenges with MakerSphere, and service projects within the community.  Participating students will receive a $10 Waterbury Bucks gift certificate that can be redeemed at many local stores, restaurants and businesses. They also will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win $50-$100 cash prizes with every activity or submission. (The ‘Get Creative’ and ‘Get Involved’ challenges likely will require submitting an image or something written as part of their instructions.) 

For example, on Tuesday and Thursday, Mud City Adventures hosted games including wiffleball and KUBB at Hope Davey Field in Waterbury Center. 

Crossett Brook Principal Tom Drake went to check it out, with camera in hand. “The thing that struck me the most was the amount of laughter I heard,” said Drake, who donated $50 to the GoFundMe collection. He applauded the creative effort saying, “While all of our seventh and eighth graders will not leap at the opportunity, some will and that is a good thing.”  

On Tuesday with very short notice, 16 eighth graders - approximately one-third of the class - attended. On Thursday, 34 seventh graders (roughly half of that grade) participated. 

Benson noted that students even requested more than the allotted two hours. “This goes to show the kids are eager to get out and be together while distancing and wearing masks,” he said.

New activities will be announced weekly and the hope is for participation to grow through word of mouth. 

Kids get back to being kids on the skatepark playground at Hope Davey Park in Waterbury Center. Courtesy photo 

Eighth grader Eliana Buckingham is optimistic. “I know the people who went have been reaching out to their friends saying ‘oh this was really fun you should come!’ I have a really good feeling that a lot more people will come next week.”

The effort will continue for the remaining weeks before school break, April 19-23, and Monley reminds kids in  her video message: “Please get your regular school work done first.”  

The covid challenge details are online here. The GoFundMe fundraiser can be found here.