Kristin Lukow, Hastings, NE

We are asking rural communities to share how COVID-19 is impacting them and how teachers and teacher-leaders are adapting in the face of nationwide school closures. Read below for a great highlight of how music programs can still thrive from Allyson Bohlen of Hastings, NE.

Our Music program was originally scheduled for Thursday, March 19, however, it was indefinitely postponed due to the school closure that week. Mrs. Lukow was getting ready to come to school on Thursday to help dispense student technology and supplies to move toward e-learning which would be rolled out on Monday, March 23, 2020. She was trying to figure out how she could give students the opportunity to present the program to their families since they had been working on it since January. She decided a FB live would be the best route that all students could perform collectively and interact with fellow students and their families.

Many families shared the live link as a watch party. Some families simultaneously recorded their students in a Facebook live as they performed live with Mrs. Lukow. So in summary students watched Mrs. Lukow performed in their homes while parents watched and recorded the live performance of their children. Parents could share with relatives, friends on their own FB pages and tag Mrs. Lukow as well. They also created watch parties for others to watch on a screen. Some families were projecting their children performing on the big-screen TVs in their homes, older siblings could join in and perform with the 1st-2nd grade students and families could actually sing along. Some of the students even dressed up in their performance clothing to make the event more authentic for their families. They were so very proud.

Families, neighbors, and friends were very appreciative of this opportunity. Mrs. Lukow used only an iPad, while students and parents used school-issued devices and personal devices as simple as their iPhones. Our community tends to be very tech-savvy.

Anyone who was not able to attend the live performance can access and view this event at any time as it is still available online. Students and families go back and interact again and again with this event. You can see the live comments in the actual recorded event.

Since we are closed indefinitely, Mrs. Lukow plans to do a virtual program for the Kindergarten program which is scheduled for May 14, 2020. Within our weekly e-learning schedule, our Specials teachers which Mrs. Lukow is a part of, and has student recordings of day to day assignments. Students line up toys, tractors and family members to sing with or perform too, so this is not a one-time event. Students are sharing videos all the time with Mrs. Lukow. Ongoing interactive real-time learning!

Mrs. Lukow has a FB page: https://buff.ly/2SjQQjU

Link to a virtual performance: https://buff.ly/2KOxkaU