Elkhart Education Foundation helping students and teachers as E-Learning begins

ELKHART, Ind. --- Schools across Michiana are closing down and switching to E-Learning, leaving teachers and students scrambling to gather the necessary supplies to bring the classroom home.

One local non-profit is making sure students do not go home empty handed.

As Elkhart Community Schools prepare for at least four weeks of E-Learning, the Elkhart Education Foundation provided teachers with essential school supplies and personal hygiene items to send home with students on Monday—the last day of in-person classes.

“Everybody’s talking, but nobody’s doing,” Ashley Molyneaux said, Executive Director of Elkhart Education Foundation. “So we said, ‘We’re going to start doing!’”

Hundreds of educators lined up at the Schoolhouse Supply Store on Sunday to stock up on E-Learning essentials.

“Everything from arts supplies and basic classroom materials, rulers and that sort of thing,” Molyneaux said. “We’re just trying to fill in those gaps and make sure they have what they need for success in the classroom.”

Teachers will distribute those materials to students on Monday, the last day of school before at least four weeks of E-Learning.

Teachers will not have to reach into their own pockets to make sure their students are prepared with the basics they might not have at home.

“So to be able to come here and pick them up and have that stress off of them so they can really focus on creating some quality lessons for the students to do is a huge, huge relief,” Kris Weimer said, Principal at Osolo Elementary School.

The Elkhart Education Foundation is dedicated to bridging the gap in funding for educators and on Monday, by distributing necessary items, the organization took a weight off of the teachers’ shoulders—giving educators more time to prepare fun and engaging virtual lessons for the children at home.

“That makes me feel much more confident,” Weimer said. “You know, there’s a lot of nervousness about not seeing the kids for the next month and I worry about them while they’re at home because we know we’re a sense of stability for a lot of them. “

“Honestly, this is like the best part of my job is being able to see the teachers’ faces, the kids’ faces when they get what they need,” Molyneaux said.

Elkhart Community Schools plan to have sites set up for children on the free and reduced lunch program to pick up food, according to Molyneaux. The locations are expected to be announced soon.