Sep. 15, 2020 -- Monticello Middle School physical education teacher Desi Stewart knows what it’s like to have to wake kids up in the morning and get them ready for school. He has two tweens of his own and, while one might be described as a “morning person,” the other “is a different story.” 

 

Last spring, Mr. Stewart realized that mornings are even harder for students whose parents work the night shift and are either still at work or have just gone to bed right at the moment their children need to get up and ready for remote learning. 

 

So, with Principal Dr. Jeff Johnston and Assistant Principal Bridgette Pronty’s blessing, Mr. Stewart used Monticello’s online orientation to offer a wake-up call service. Thirty families signed on and gave their children’s cell numbers for Mr. Stewart to call each morning. 

 

He starts at 6:45 and has enough time to call them all, and some kids multiple times, plus get himself and his own kids up and ready, by the 7:55 log-in time. His reason for taking on this added daily responsibility is simple: “Some parents just needed the extra support.”