KQED News Mind/Shift – Kara Newhouse
Before schools actually shut their doors in response to coronavirus, Naomi O’Brien was anticipating how to help teachers discuss the growing global health crisis with students. A teacher with a decade of experience in kindergarten through second grade, O’Brien took this year off to have her second child but has continued to create educational materials that she sells through Teachers Pay Teachers. When the school where her friend and frequent collaborator LaNesha Tabb closed, the pair “dropped everything” to produce a free, child-friendly e-book on pandemics and COVID-19. “We wanted to put something out there to give kids information, so they didn’t feel left in the dark,” O’Brien said.