A Day of Compassion marks the 4th COVID anniversary

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.- Wednesday marked the fourth anniversary of the first COVID-19 case in the state of Kentucky. Gov. Andy Beshear joined state and local officials at the State Capitol to dedicate Wednesday, March 6, 2024, as a Day of Compassion in the Commonwealth.

Beshear says, “COVID has been the fight of our lifetime. Its dark shadow touched every life, sparing no one. The virus has now caused the death of nearly 1.2 million Americans. Included in that staggering total is more than 19,650 Kentuckians.”

State officials say this is an effort to remember how Kentuckians came together to care for one another during uncertain times. The governor accredits essential workers and school staff for their commitment to students during the pandemic.

Director of pupil personnel for Barren County Schools, Anthony Frazier, says “The teacher can situate themselves in a classroom to help struggling students with different things, which isn’t available online. We’re just looking at faces and that was part of the instructional loss, that one one-on-one interaction with kids.”

In an untraditional learning setting, instructional loss can be expected, but recovering from that is a real challenge.

Frazier says, “In Barren County, we’re experiencing, and it seems like we’re all very similar in this region, that we are experiencing more absenteeism now, post-COVID, than pre-COVID. So, I’m doing more home visits than ever done, talking to parents, talking to kids, and talking about the importance of being at school.”

Students are back in school; however, educators have found that some students would rather learn in a virtual setting.