Reunited and it felt so good
By Ashleigh Plemper
Farmer Editor
An equal amount of tears and smiles could be seen on Friday, April 3, as students and teachers waived to each other as Watford City’s kindergarten through sixth grade teachers were escorted throughout the community by the Watford City Police Department as part of a Teacher Parade.
“My son is autistic and that just made his day,” sniffled mom Rebekka Perez.
Perez says the transition has been difficult on her kindergarten son, who’s routine was thrown out of rhythm after McKenzie County School District No.1 cut its year short on March 15, when Gov. Doug Burgum indefinitely closed all schools in North Dakota due to the COVID-19 virus.
“Obviously, we as adults are capable of understanding the complexity of what’s going on. But these kids are basically told the night before school that they aren’t going back to school for an indefinite amount of time so it’s a lot for them to digest,” says mom, Sara Wescott. “So the parade gave the kids a chance to see their teachers in person from a distance.”
The parade of vehicles traveled through downtown residential areas as well as to multiple neighborhoods, apartment complexes and an RV Park where students live.
According to Watford City Elementary School kindergarten teacher Crystal Wendlandt, some students were so excited to be reunited with their teachers from afar that they showed up several times on the parade route.
“Some of the kids wanted to see their teachers so badly that they would go to a new place on the route so they could see us more than one time,” Wendlandt says.
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