A crowd of Cherrington Elementary students and their parents gathered at their Blendon Woods neighborhood last week, awaiting the arrival of Principal Andy Heck and their teachers.
The Cherrington team was in the middle of a book drop tour, where they staged a pop-up library in different neighborhoods for students to pick up books and connect with teachers. Students also shared their completed summer workbooks with Heck and signed up for a raffle to win a variety of prizes, including a new scooter.
More than a dozen students and parents had stopped by the Blendon Woods book drop site when Heck, English Language teacher Tina Shirey and counselor Marsha Siefker drove up with boxes of books, games, toys and treats for students. Fifth-grade teachers Lauren Gardner and Allison Crouse were en route with chapter books.
Students greeted Heck as soon as he stepped out of his car to set up a table for the books.
“How are you?” Heck told them. “Did you have a good summer?”
The book drop is the latest outreach effort by Heck and school staff to build relationships with families and extend the work they started at the onset of the pandemic. When schools abruptly shut down last spring, Cherrington teachers delivered Chromebooks, food, supplies and other items families needed in their homes. During the summer, they organized a book drop and provided students with jump ropes and sidewalk chalk, hoping to inspire outdoor play.
“We’re building on what we did last year,” Heck said. “We wanted to get books into the hands of kids. When we reached out to the neighborhoods and to families that couldn’t get (to Cherrington) or it was a strain to get to school, it provided us an opportunity to get to them.”
They continued to connect with families away from the building throughout the previous school year. Shirey, for instance, made home visits once or twice a week with families whose first language is not English, providing additional support and helping them navigate through online learning tools.
Inspired by their efforts, Heck found spare moments on his way to school, on his route home, during lunch to visit Cherrington students — including those enrolled in Westerville Virtual Academy — for a face-to-face birthday greeting, photo and birthday pencil.
“It’s really critical to have that family engagement piece and make those connections and let them know we’re here for you,” Shirey said. “After doing so many of these deliveries because of COVID… I now know where every single one of my families live.”
“It’s made me a lot more comfortable going out and I’ll just pop by their house and drop it off where before I may have been like, ‘They may not want me.’”
Nevaughn Norris, whose twin sons Justin and Jordan will be fifth-graders at Cherrington this fall, is thankful for the school’s outreach work to families and wants to support them anyway he can, including hosting a book drop site for the Northern Woods neighborhood in his driveway.
“It’s a pleasure that Mr. Heck asked us to do it,” said Norris, who baked a pie and a cake as well as provided refreshments to the school staff.
“We want to be a good host and let them know they are welcome.”