By Michele Bushey
The majestic beauty of the densely forested mountains that surround Saranac, N.Y., is what makes people fall in love with our town in the Adirondacks. But those same mountains also make it difficult to get sorely needed internet access, Wi-Fi and cell phone service throughout this region. Even in normal times, the lack of internet service is a constant and serious issue here. With the COVID-19 pandemic closing down schools, it’s become even more clear how the lack of internet is affecting students and families, particularly students’ ability to access learning tools.
I am a high school biology teacher. I’m responsible for 77 students, and about a dozen of them don’t have internet access at home. Our school has been closed since March 19 (officially), so in our new normal, I spend a good deal of every day reaching out to those students and their parents by phone just to see how things are going.
Like other school districts, we’ve switched to an online platform to provide instruction. But I reach out directly — one-to-one — to my students who don’t have internet to try to provide alternate instruction. Most days, I’m on the phone and available to answer questions and review lessons — for kids both with and without internet — from about 6 a.m. to midnight. And, I have a daughter, Julia, who is second-grader at the local elementary school.
I’ve been calling and messaging my legislators — including my assemblyman, Billy Jones — and people in the governor’s office to try to get them to understand just how serious internet access is and how the lack of service is impacting families all over this region.
Some of our teachers don’t have internet service. I know teachers who drive to parking lots outside buildings with Wi-Fi where they sit in their cars and do their work. And I’ve heard about parents who are driving their kids to parking lots to connect to Wi-Fi to do their homework — all the while with their cars running.
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