Coming Back Home - How children are managing the post-Covid world
Coming Back Home Part 1 - helping kids re-acclimate to a post-Covid world
It's not just adults getting back to work, but kids getting back to school and sports. The pandemic cleaved an entire structure from their day-to-day lives in 2020. Helping kids get back into the swing of things won't be easy.
MILFORD, Mich. - Whether you're a former college quarterback or a pre-school teacher, reintroducing children to their post-Coronavirus world will require effort and caution.
But that's the job that both former Michigan Wolverine Devin Gardner and Milford Country Day teacher Amanda Sherman are tasked with, as health restrictions lift and infections decrease.
Devin Gardner, former University of Michigan quarterback and professional football player said "A lot of people talk about body health, but the mental aspect has been huge."
He has been using his connections in the world of sports to reach people throughout Michigan.
"A lot of adults have had to deal with it, now take a kid who doesn’t know much of anything and why this is happening," said Gardner.
Sports Marketing Agency and the NFL Alumni Detroit Chapter have helped Devin become a bridge between parents and kids. He is helping kids have fun outside, and had the opportunity to speak at a local county jail.
The same sentiment is shared by Milford Country Day, a local daycare center.
Once parents drop off their children, Milford’s employees take over.
"We’re doing pretty good. Everybody is here. We have a waiting list. Just trying to get back to normal." said Amanda Sherman, an employee at the daycare.
Kids are slowly able to interact with each other again at this local daycare center. That means coloring, painting, and other educational activities back in full swing for students.
A quote Gardner uses works well for students in a classroom, or on the field; "Things can be going so good in a football game and you can throw an interception and lose it. So right now, it’s an interception. You have to deal with it. How I am going to reform my life and continue to push forward."
As he sees it, parents are recovering from life's current interception, and so are children one step at a time.