Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader among those teaching from home during COVID-19 pandemic

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Homework has a new meaning right now for students across the country.

Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader Julia McHale is among the teachers still trying to educate from home.

The 2nd-grade teacher at Downing Elementary School in Runnemede, New Jersey, is still connecting with her 23 students while school is shutdown.

McHale says "I miss the kids a lot."

The kids miss their teacher as well.

Karmen Harrington says from home, "I miss her so much. I just want to hug her.

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McHale has a virtual classroom from her South Jersey home; using Google classroom, ClassDojo and Zoom to teach, give out assignments and read to the children.

"That's something we do every day in school, so I'm not gonna take that away from them," McHale says over an interview on FaceTime as she tries to stick to their normal school schedule as best as possible.

Harrington, is among the parents who really appreciate how helpful she has been during this shutdown.

Another parent, Crystal Dimatteo, believes her kids will be prepared for when school eventually returns at some point.

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McHale, who has been an Eagles cheerleader for four seasons, even incorporates a part of what she does on Sunday's at Eagles games in the classroom with a game she came up with called "Spelling Jacks."

She has her students spell out a word while they do jumping jacks, to give them a break from the traditional classroom material and to keep them active.

"They love that, can't get enough," McHale said.

It's fair to say McHale and her students will be doing cartwheels when they can finally return to school.