Laguna Beach Local News
Chantale McConnell is an instructional assistant at Top of the World Elementary. Photo courtesy of Chantale McConnell
Instructional Assistant Chantale McConnell rose to the challenge of guiding cohorts of up to 20 Kindergarten students through a very unusual year at Top of the World Elementary School.
She still sees little smiles underneath her students’ face masks as they sit behind plexiglass mounted on their desks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Inevitably, a student will break down and cry for their mom. McConnell is there to help make them feel happy at school.
“The one thing that’s hard for me, because I’m very involved physically with the kids, I’m a big hugger,” she said. “That’s been the hardest thing for me, not being able to hug.”