Gretchen Snyder teaches second and third grade at the Chilmark School.
Mark Alan Lovewell

Gretchen Snyder

Gretchen Snyder is a second and third grade teacher at the Chilmark School.

Gretchen Snyder is a second and third grade teacher at the Chilmark School.

Every weekday morning at nine Ms. Snyder’s class meets via Zoom. She said having the same routine every day helps her students stay engaged with school and also helps parents stick to a schedule.

But Ms. Snyder also found a way to keep providing her students access to resources, bringing their classroom to them, out of the back of her car. Turn-in folders have become Cronig’s bags filled with math packets, weather charts and reading material. Her completed work bin features a touch of Vineyard dust and an exhaust pipe.

“Because it all happened so fast, they didn’t get their reading books and things like that and the libraries are all closed,” Ms. Snyder said. “So I took a lot of the books out of my classroom and put them in the back of my car and when they come to get their packets, I’ve got a mini mobile library.”

The drop off spot is near her house by Chicken Alley thrift shop.

So far Ms. Snyder reports her petroleum powered delivery method has worked out very well. “Cronig’s bags are very popular, everyone’s got them,” she said with a laugh.

“My parents are great and really supportive, and they like to do things with their kids,” she added. “I really feel for the parents the most. The burden of orchestrating it is theirs. I give my students something to do but they still have to have their child sit down to do it and for some it’s harder than others.”

— Aaron Wilson

Comments

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 05/04/2020 - 16:01

Permalink

PB Chilmark

Gretchen is just amazing - all the kids at Chilmark are very lucky to have her as their teacher because she always goes above and beyond!!

Add new comment

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.