KANSAS CITY, Mo. — You’ve heard of “The Masked Singer,” but have you heard of the masked teacher? One Kansas City educator is making distance learning fun and entertaining.
Wednesday nights on FOX4, who’s under the mask is always a mystery, but for Mrs. Galoyan’s fifth grade class, they always know who’s under the costume. The Union Chapel Elementary School teacher decided to get creative in a way both kids and parents love.
“They are super fun. Almost every night we discussed what she was for the day, and I get on Facebook to see it. Back last night we were scrolling through all the pictures just to see what she was going to be,” mom Carissa Hubbard said.
“She just, she’s very special and we love her … Her costumes are just the icing on the cake with her,” mom Jodie Gerken said.
Each day on Zoom, Galoyan has a new persona like Katy Perry, the Easter Bunny and even Poppy the troll. She said a lot of people ask her how far she’s going to take this.
“I get that question a lot. Like what are you doing? Well, this is stressful for everybody, especially kids,” Galoyan said. “So I tried to just come up with something that, that’s actually pretty easy for me. I put on a hat, a wig, a mask of some sort, and I just rummage through and pick something each day just so they have something to look forward to.”
Her co-teacher, Bekha Embrey, said it helps the kids stay engaged, and they learn through the costumes as well.
“Yesterday, she was dressed up as a Viking,” Embrey said. “So we talked about Neanderthals and how like they descended from the Northern part of Europe, and Vikings were part of the Neanderthal family. And then we’ve had them go research.”
Traditional school may be closed, but Mrs. Galoyan wants to make sure fifth grade is a year to remember.
“I hope that they remember their fifth grade teacher as, ‘Wow, I remember that time in 2020 when the coronavirus happened and we had to all Zoom,'” Galoyan said. “‘Well at least Mrs. Galoyan kept it fun by dressing up and being silly each day.'”
Galoyan said she plans to keep the costumes going all the way through the end of the school year.