Letters to the Editor: Add teachers to the list of coronavirus outbreak heroes

To the editor: Thank you for this story of an amazing sixth-grade teacher in the Inglewood Unified School District who volunteers in the morning distributing food to students, then goes home not only to do online instruction, but also to personally reach out to every one of her students — especially those who were missing from the virtual classes so that they can get what they need to participate in distance learning.

This teacher, Aba Ngissah, is making a big difference in the lives of her students and their families at a very difficult time in their lives. She deserves our heartfelt thanks, as do the thousands of other teachers who are making a difference in the lives of children.

Elizabeth Hoffman, Rancho Palos Verdes

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To the editor: As a retired teacher, I so appreciate your story about Ngissah.

Teachers always go above and beyond, but now more than ever they are brilliant shinning stars. They are providing nourishment for body and mind to both students and their parents.

We have many folks to be thankful for and to list as heroes these days. Ngissah and teachers all over the world need to be added to that list.

Karen Boman, Fallbrook

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To the editor: Bless your heart, Ms. Ngissah. You are going far beyond the hours and duties that any taxpayer should expect of any teacher.

As a side note, because I’ve worked with students from many different home situations, in this article I see an interesting unintended but positive consequence of a district’s food giveaway: teachers talking to parents when they distribute food.

When California returns to normal school conditions, is there a way to require parents to continue to pick up food for their children who are entitled to this aid? That would be a vast improvement over using student suspensions as a technique of last resort to get an otherwise unreachable parent to meet with school officials.

Wendell H. Jones, Ojai