JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Fourth-grade students at a Jacksonville school are officially published authors.
Jennifer Walker, a fourth-grade teacher at First Coast Christian School, encouraged her students to write a “Bible Journal” during the coronavirus pandemic in hopes of helping others.
“I always know what they are thinking, but I wanted to know what they were feeling,” Walker said. “This school year, we knew, with the coronavirus, school as we knew it would not look the same, and I really wanted the boys and girls to be part of a really awesome project that would uplift not only them but their community as well.”
Now, the book about life during the pandemic has been published thanks to donations from community businesses and organizations.
“Happy, proud. I also felt very joyful,” said a fourth grader named Daniel.
A 10-year-old named Liberty said: “It feels amazing.”
Eighteen copies of the book were printed.
“It says, ‘Yesterday, we had a really hard day and learned COVID was at our school and we had to go home for two weeks. This was scary, sudden and a challenge,’” Walker said as she read a passage from the book.
The book will be a keepsake for this generation to look back on what life was like as a student during the pandemic. Walker described the book as the “highlight” of her career.
“It’s just been a wonderful blessing, and in all of my 26 years of teaching, I never experienced a project that has not only uplifted our school but also our community at large,” Walker said.
Walker said she hopes to do more class projects like this in the future.
Walker also leads the school’s Kindness Squad. This year, the students have raised money to donate to local shelters.
To learn more, visit First Coast Christian School’s website.