SANTA CLARITA, Calif. — The pandemic and learning from home have impacted our nation’s children.
According to the CDC, reports of pediatric emergency room visits for mental health reasons have increased sharply in the last year. One teacher has made it her mission to provide Santa Clarita-area preschoolers with the social interaction they are so badly missing through "The Classroom to Go."
Teacher Jerilee Melo can often be found driving a school bus through Santa Clarita, but it isn’t just any bus. It's got a classroom inside.
“Peace and love and unity and that’s what we need right now during the pandemic,” said Melo.
Melo is a kind of modern-day Mrs. Frizzle with her very own magic school bus. She wants to change how education is approached by teaching her preschoolers in a new way saying she will, "take the classroom to them and do what Mr. Rogers wanted to do and really explore."
This all began because of the pandemic.
Melo quit her traditional teaching job because she didn’t feel comfortable going back to a classroom with 20-plus students. So, now she can teach four or five students the alphabet while sitting around on flower pillows. There were parents who felt the same way, but she feels children have been lacking social interaction for too long.
“Everyone keeps saying how kids are resilient and that they are going to get through this, but how many times do you see adults talking about childhood traumas?” said Melo.
To combat this, Melo asked interested parents to coordinate small cohorts with other families they trusted.
“I personally didn’t feel comfortable going into their homes. So, the only thing I could do with that compromise was to bring the classroom to them,” said Melo.
She had the students. Now all she needed was the space.
“I did some emotional shopping and instead of buying clothes, I decided to go on Facebook Marketplace and bought a bus,” said Melo.
She was able to shape the bus up after she won a free classroom makeover from The Superhero Teacher. Little benches and desks were made for the kids on board to learn how to write and study at.
“At the end of the day, it’s the spirit that will bring us together, that positive energy,” said Melo.
She hopes to never go back to teaching traditionally. Melo says the pandemic forced this upon her, but she wants to introduce a new style where you bring these preschoolers right to their studies.
“Ideally, I would like to connect with different local businesses, gardens, and farms and just take the classroom to them,” said Melo.