WOODBURY, Minn. — A back-to-school season without much in-school learning isn't easy for anyone, so Natali Bohm wanted to seek a solution that could be helpful to everyone.
"There's no household that's exactly the same,” said Bohm, who lives in Woodbury and has two kids who attend Stillwater schools. "We ask, how can we help each other? And start from there."
Bohm started a Facebook group called 'Stillwater Strong' after learning that her district is leaning toward starting the year in a hybrid model. She began with a simple goal: connect with parents looking for creative solutions to balancing work and distance learning support.
"I work from home, so I’d just like to find one or two households at the very most where we can maybe rotate our off days,” Bohm said. "It might not seem like a huge deal but one day would make a huge difference, I know, for my mental capacity and I know it would with my kids too."
Within days of creating the group, 450 families had signed on to Stillwater Strong, many interested in finding similar arrangements, or “pods”. But unlike many pod arrangements taking shape across the country, Bohm says she’s not focused on hiring or splitting the cost of tutors.
"It's whatever works for the families,” she said. “In my personal experience, I just don't want to spend the money on a tutor if we don't have to."
For some families, joining the group isn’t about hybrid learning or even forming a pod.
"We opted for the 100% distance learning this fall,” said Jolene Mcguire, who has four boys under the age of eight. "Having four boys at home I knew that I wouldn't be able to give to any other family, my energy is spent,” she said. "For me, it's just been nice having those other parents to talk to and then finding connections for my kids. You know, if they're not going to be in school, they're going to be missing that social interaction, so hopefully when all the kids are back in school, we're not really missing a beat with anything that's going on."
Bohm says that's exactly her goal.
"What can I do to make this a positive experience,” she said.