LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Fayette County teacher is getting creative to motivate his students during this period of online learning.
Fourth grade science teacher, Shad Lacefield, has started "Vader Visits."
Every week he dresses up as Darth Vader and visits one or two of his "spotlight students" at their homes.
Spotlight students are those who have completed all their work for the week and have participated and attended online classes. Those kids have their names put into a hat and Lacefield randomly selects two winners.
"I want kids to just at the end of it be like that was fun, I enjoyed that. I do feel connected with my teacher. He knows me and I feel part of his classroom even though I might not be part of his classroom at this time," Lacefield said.
This week, he visited spotlight student Jannela Antonio. She loves Harry Potter, so Lacefield brought a Harry Potter-themed game of Yahtzee. Masks were worn, they practiced social distancing, and they used two different sets of dice as they played in her front yard.
"I really hope more teachers would do something like this for the kids," Jannela's mother, Joanna Antonio, said. "Because virtual learning is difficult for them, so having some kind of activity like this for them is really something."
It's a positive memory students can hold onto during an otherwise difficult semester.
