Joanneonthelake

The past year has been a challenging one and Covid has forced many students around the world to resort to online learning. For most families, this means that their living room or their bedroom becomes their virtual classroom. They simply use their desktop computer or a laptop with their home internet. But what do you do if you have limited internet access because you live in a remote community? Joanne's family lives in a very small town in Ontario, Canada. The nearest town is Harlowe, north of Highway # 7. They have a peaceful spot on a few acres of land with a beautiful home nestled on the shore of Big Gull Lake. It's a short walk through the back yard to their dock. It's a little piece of paradise but they have one serious challenge. Home internet to these isolated homes is not accessible. Joanne relies on a satellite package for their family's communication needs. But, with two students in the home and other internet needs, their package limit had been reached within two days. Most people would resort to cell phone data and a laptop, which makes perfect sense. But this property is in an area where cellular reception is spotty. Connecting through the cell phone wasn't possible in the comfort of the home. Joanne and her son, Michael were not going to let this stop him from getting to class. Michael loves school and is eager to interact with this friends as much as possible. He is a 10 year old student attending grade 5. His mother, who is an avid outdoors person, knew that cellular reception on the lake is very reliable. She got out her ice fishing hut and set it up with a table, laptop, heater, decorations, candles and even some table decorations. But the most appealing part of it was that she also brought out her toaster oven to bake fresh cookies for snack time. Michael is an exceptionally good sport about all of this. Dressed in his outdoor clothes, and toque, he completes his online assignment with enthusiasm. Michael is not the only student who will attend school on the lake this winter. His older sister, Amber took over the desk at 1:30, also doing her schooling in the snow. This family approached the challenges and the whole situation with an optimism that is an inspiration to us all. Joanne's video footage made an appearance on Twitter and was quickly shared and talked about in her community. CBC radio's Julianne Hazlewood was impressed enough with their resourcefulness that she and her cohost talked about the family on her show: "Ontario Morning". Not surprisingly, the two were particularly impressed with the warm chocolate chip cookies baked right beside the classroom. https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-112-ontario-morning-from-cbc-radio/clip/15818934-ontario-morning-friday-january-15-2021- (January 15, 25:40 on the time counter) Michael will possibly be one of those people who has earned the right to tell his own kids this story in years to come, topping the age old whopper about parents who walked two miles in the snow, uphill both ways, to get to class. This family's resourcefulness and optimism should be a lesson for all of us!