In times of distress, a quote from Mr. Rogers often comes up: "When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'”
In a recurring segment, KUNC is collecting stories of local “helpers,” people who are going above and beyond to aid others during this time of crisis.
Tami Wolff is a middle school English teacher from Fort Collins. Wolff posts tutorial videos on her School at Homepage on Facebook for parents who now find themselves in the role of educator.
She says she got the idea for the short videos after seeing so many parents expressing anxiety and feeling overwhelmed at having to homeschool their kids due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was just Facebooking with a friend of mine and she said, ‘I am not a teacher,’” Wolff said. “And I said, ‘That’s OK. I’m not a doctor, but I know how to take aspirin and I know how to put a band-aid on, and I know how to take my temperature.”
The three-to-five-minute videos go over basics, such as setting up a place to do schoolwork, timing breaks and making learning fun.
“I think the biggest thing is that our attitudes, as parents, will be directly reflected in how our kids see this,” Wolff said. “And if we can make it attainable and fun and something that we all are doing and learning together, then they’ll have a better attitude about it.”
If you know of a “Helper” making a difference right now, you can contact KUNC reporter Stacy Nick at stacy.nick@kunc.org.
