With the state of Georgia reportedly now leading the nation with the highest number of coronavirus cases, the prospect of sending students back to school is fraught with peril and uncertainty. But two Albany, Georgia, teachers have gone viral producing videos that trumpet the value and virtue of virtual learning.
Monroe Comprehensive High School teachers Audri Williams and Callie Evans created entertaining rap videos — replete with cheerleaders participating in carefully choreographed dance sequences while wearing masks — that are also intended to raise the morale of the students and get them motivated to succeed despite the national dilemmas and distant learning.
“You got options, but you better pass my class no floppin’/Gone log in, every day, every morning, I’m watchin’/Yeah we virtual, and you know what’s up, so we ’bout to take it up a notch,” Evans raps in the song.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CD9_Y_XAI4K/?utm_source=ig_embed
Williams said she believes she achieved her objective to amplify student excitement at the school, which is a three-hour drive south of Atlanta.
“With all the uncertainty these past few months have brought, I want to be able to get my students excited for what’s to come,” Evans said as she penned an open letter to her students on her Instagram page. “You all will still be great despite what we’ve been through.”
And the students are going through a lot these days — along with the rest of the state for that matter.
With the week ending Friday, Aug. 14, the number of Georgians who had tested positive for COVID-19 had skyrocketed to 216 cases per 100,000 people, which is nearly double the national average. Compounding the problem is the fact that some Georgia high schools reopened only to close right away because of an outbreak of coronavirus cases.
Williams told a Fox TV affiliate in Albany that the viral videos have made her and Evans more approachable to their students and motivate them to succeed in their classes.
“Students are so excited to log in virtually with me and Mrs. Evans,” she said. “They are just so excited to learn, and they are actually engaging in class like they already know me. It’s a wonderful feeling.”
Flip the page to see Williams’ rap video.
