Teacher makes puppet shows to teach kids at home during Coronavirus outbreak

BERLIN, N.J. -- Puppets have been popping up in Bonnie Bhasin's life since she was 2 years old. So, it was only natural that she brought them into the classroom when she became an elementary school teacher.

Her first-grade students love reading along with Kermit the Frog, Cookie Monster, Elmo, and more fuzzy friends at Clementon Elementary School. However, the recent outbreak of COVID-19 has dispersed the classroom into scattered tiny screens across southern New Jersey.

Mrs. Bhasin did not waste any time. She took her puppets and books back home, where she's creating daily instructional videos for students.

Occasionally, her daughters, Victoria and Natalie, join the videos to contribute to the magic.

Now, many students look forward to getting their assignments from characters such as Grover and Figment the Dragon every morning.

Additionally, Clementon Elementary is working on interactive live learning sessions once they have succeeded in supplying every child with a device and internet access.

Mrs. Bhasin, in her 20th year of teaching, says there are no words to describe how rewarding her job is. Growing up with two teachers for parents, she fell in love with education and made it a career.

As a high school student, she embarked on a mission trip to Peru to perform puppets for children who had never seen them before. In college, she led a puppeteering team, performing in venues such as nursing homes. As an educator, she continues to puppeteer to connect with her budding students.

Mrs. Bhasin, from Berlin, New Jersey, is just one of the many creative and inspiring teachers in our area who have risen above and beyond expectations to deliver love, comfort, and normalcy to students during this difficult time. She has no plans to stop inviting these familiar faces into her classroom, even if it has to be done from home.