The New Normal: Teacher Lucresha Lindsey, With & Without

As the stay-at-home order is set to be lifted across the country (Indiana’s lifts the first full week in May 2020), so shall the restriction ban (10 people or less) on public gatherings that made staging mass funerals untenable. As evident by the Fort Wayne Ink Spot’s obituary inclusions, Fort Wayne funerals for black families have been regulated to private ceremonies or postponed.

About a month after the Fort Wayne Community Schools cancelled regular classes and pivoted to online learning, Abbott Elementary teacher Lucresha Lindsey lost her father William Henry Chapman, 83, a coronavirus victim, the day before her April 11 birthday.

She spoke with him over the phone, before he passed. In previous conversation, he would ask, “Am I here or am I dreaming?” Lindsey recalled. As with COVID-19 cases, the sick is isolated. She noted his age, how it was his time, and that, yeah, she was good. We didn’t speak more on it.

School as we all knew it ended mid-March. Since then, Lindsey and her 24 1st graders have been navigating digital learning, so that means Zoom video conferencing and online activities. “Some students don’t have computers in their home,” Lindsey said. “There’ve been a lot of phone calls” to supplement learning for those who can’t just log on. “I used Zoom for them to see my face,” she said. “It’s about making that connection. I’m still around.”

The only time her voice cracked, questioning itself, was when she discussed not having a classroom and what that means. “It’s been a struggle. The classroom is my sanctuary, my sanity,” Lindsey said. “These kids are not there. That’s not normal for them.”

She talked about what kind of student this global isolation is creating. “We’re going to have to do a lot of repairing,” she said. “Right now, as a teacher, we have to focus on relationship building.” Trauma as a school bully.

Lindsey voluntarily started a YouTube page for her school kids, to read them stories. It’s private (not public) for them and their families. Her son Alijeh, 11, helped her create it… that’s not her thing.

She also teaches her own children (3 kids, the newborn Avin’s just chillin’), but, Lindsey said, “their biggest adjustment is not being able to leave the house.” Her oldest Arijeh, 17, is graduating high school this year. Ashtyn, 9, is learning geometry.

There are plusses. More quality time is spent together. Lindsey, her husband and her children, don’t just want watch movies, they cook dinner together… they cook breakfast together. They don’t usually do that. Specificity cements.