Mary C. Snow students returning to in-person learning Friday

KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) - After four days of remote learning for students at Mary C. Snow West Side Elementary, welcome change came Thursday during West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s briefing.

“We’ve been testing our equipment at Mary C. Snow West Side and it is good to go for [Friday]. We’ll be able to have school [Friday] for the students that attend there,” Kanawha County Schools Superintendent Dr. Tom Williams shared at the briefing.

Williams said pre-K students, who normally do not attend on Fridays, will be welcome back to school as well.

The excitement was shared between students and teachers.

“They will have a warm place to come and have a warm meal and be able to get what they need here at the school from us, and I miss my babies,” first-grade aide Andrea Moore said.

“I’m very excited,” fourth-grader Breyln Brown said. “It’s been very boring; I’ve been in the house sitting on my iPad. I haven’t seen my friends in a week!”

The school administration showed excitement to see students, many of whom remain without gas service, back before break.

“It’s a struggle to see students needing their basic needs met,” Principal Destiny Spencer said. “That is something that we do daily, and we take it very seriously, and we want to make and we feel like we do a great job at making sure our kids needs are met and not just academically.”

Although their time together will be short-lived before the students are sent home for Thanksgiving break, staff members believe the outage has given them all a renewed sense of the meaning of the season.

“I hope they take away that even though they’re going through a really hard time right now, there are still things to be very thankful for,” first-grade aide Annika Melloy said.

“I hope they know that they just weren’t forgotten and that we thought about them day and night and we were concerned,” Spencer added. “I hope that they know that they do have people that they can count on to help them whenever they need anything.”

Between 4 and 4:30 p.m. Friday at the school, families can pick up a three-day meal box filled with breakfast, lunch and dinner for Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

No classes will be held for any Kanawha County Schools next week due to Thanksgiving break.

On Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., families can pick up a seven-day meal box filled with breakfast, lunch and dinner to last through the duration of Thanksgiving break.

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