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SMITHFIELD

Isle of Wight County Schools’ reading coach, Haley Cooprider, has been selected as one of the four members of the kindergarten team to appear on VA TV Classroom, an initiative the Virginia Department of Education announced earlier this week involving the broadcast of teacher-led classroom instruction on public media stations.

The program will be broadcast on local PBS affiliate WHRO, and is intended to ensure continuity of instruction for Virginia students whose families lack access to reliable internet.

Cooprider’s first lesson for VA TV will focus on reviewing the letters of the alphabet and their sounds. The material is intended to prepare students for the following week of writing words, and then the next week, writing sentences. The plan is to move through a progression from which all students can benefit regardless of where they were instructionally when schools closed. The kindergarten team collaborated remotely on a 10-week pacing plan of key grade-level standards for English, math, science, social studies and health. WHRO provided guidance and shared best practices for educational television and the logistics of filming the segments.

“WHRO and the entire kindergarten team have been fabulous to work with,” Cooprider said. “The teachers are creative and immensely skilled in their craft, and WHRO made everything positive and fun.”

Cooprider’s lessons and other recorded sessions will be broadcast statewide through Virginia’s PBS channels starting Monday, April 13, from 1 to 3 p.m.

“I am passionate in my quest to ensure that all students get access to quality learning, no matter what their circumstances,” Cooprider said. “I was thrilled that [VDOE Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr James] Lane was ambitious in making this happen, knowing that TV is yet another way we can reach our students during the school closure.”