In-person instruction resumes in Gentry schools

Westside Eagle Observer/RANDY MOLL Schools remained closed for on-site instruction on Monday in Gentry after about 3 inches of snow fell late Sunday. Students attended classes online.
Westside Eagle Observer/RANDY MOLL Schools remained closed for on-site instruction on Monday in Gentry after about 3 inches of snow fell late Sunday. Students attended classes online.

GENTRY -- In-person classes resumed on Monday at Gentry schools, following more than a week of online-only classes because of ice, then snow and then shortages of natural gas and electrical power.

The wintry weather which began two weeks ago and continued until Thursday of last week prompted the cancelation of in-person classes at Gentry schools, first because of icy and then snow-covered roads.

The shift to the use of alternative methods of instruction class material and then online classes via Zoom teleconferencing ran into a snag in the middle of last week when power companies alerted the public of shortages and possible rolling outages due to the winter storms across the region and their effect on the power grids and the supply of natural gas.

Customers were urged to turn down thermostats and unplug any unnecessary appliances, including computers, to save energy during the shortage. And some neighboring towns and communities experienced outages.

In response, the schools in Gentry assigned learning activities that did not require the use of electronic devices for the second half of last week.

With the snow and ice now mostly gone and the shortages in power now past, the schools are back in session in Gentry with both in-person instruction at the schools and virtual instruction in Gentry's Virtual Academy via Zoom instruction and computerized homework assignments.

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