Photo Courtesy Keung1616 | Dreamstime.com

By Veronica Beltran

EA's stepping up amidst COVID crisis

Educational Assistant’s roles are evolving due to COVID-19 crisis

Apr 20, 2020 | 11:55 AM

VICTORIA—Education Assistants (EA) across the province have had to find creative and compassionate ways to interact with their students remotely, according to the province.

In a release by the Ministry of Education, it explains how EA’s at D.P. Todd Secondary are connecting with their students, many of whom have diverse needs and abilities.

EA’s connect with their students through online group chats and social-emotional check-ins in order to support students’ learning.

“A lot of our students rely on these check-ins,” said Caroline Parker, an EA at D.P. Todd.

“When we are in class, you can see their body language change when they’ve had an opportunity to share what was on their mind, either by being extremely proud of an accomplishment or just letting go of a little bit of stress. This is still even more important today to maintain. They need to know that while so many doors of opportunity are closed right now due to social distancing, that we are still here and do care,” Parker continued.

DRIPA suspension

Private property concerns highlighted as province suspends parts of DRIPA

18m ago

Barry Seymour

Local First Nations leader will be missed

1h ago

Drought Conditions

Lowlands face drought despite snowpack

1h ago

EA’s at D.P. Todd are also maintaining open communication with classroom teachers to support them in making content more accessible for students who might need an extra layer of support.

EA’s have seen their roles evolve in other ways across the province. School Districts across B.C. are seeing them take on unique roles due to the COVID-19 crisis such as, supervising children in schools, while their parents are on the front lines, and preparing and delivering nutritious food to families whose children would normally have access to meal programs at school.