SANTA ROSA BEACH, Fla. (WMBB) -With everything going on, it may be hard to find a silver lining, but one group of eighth graders found theirs and they did it through a school assignment.
Emerald Coast Middle School math teacher Saige Merchant asked her students to email her what they were grateful for during the quarantine. She was overwhelmed by the great responses.
Her students saying they were grateful for many different things, from chocolate chip cookies, to their dogs, and even spending more time with family.
“I just think that positivity is key in getting us through this,” Merchant said. “It’s scary, crazy times and I think if you just find the good instead of the bad in a situation it can help and that’s what I was trying to teach my students.”
Merchant said some responses made her laugh, but some brought tears to her eyes.
“A couple of them were just so heartfelt and knowledgeable and just great for an eighth grader,” Merchant said. “It was just something that for you to realize all of these things and to thank all these different people in our community, i just think it was awesome for them to do that.”
One of her students, Isabella Calasso, said she thought the assignment was a great idea because it made her look on the bright side of things.
“Remind everyone you see that it will be okay,” Calasso said. “Your parents, cause your parents have the hardest job, they are helping you through online school and they are trying to keep you safe through everything. So remind them,, hey mom and dad, we’re gonna be okay. Give them a hug or something.”
Merchant says she hopes to do other assignments like these to spark positivity in her students while in quarantine.
