TONTOGANY — Staff and teachers at Otsego Local Schools on Monday showed how much they are missing their
students.
They drove a caravan of vehicles — honking and blinking lights — through each of the district’s four
communities.
“Our kids are our community and we love them so much,” said Angie Bechstein, who teaches kindergarten.

Their SUVs, trucks and cars were covered with positive messages, such as “Otsego loves you” and “Otsego
strong.”
“We wanted a chance to see them and check in and wave to them as we drive by,” Bechstein said.
“I know this time is really hard on kids, on parent and community members,” she continued. “So this is
just our way of socially distancing ourselves but waving and checking in and bringing some joy to their
lives.”
The children and families returned the love with cheers from the street and driveways, and behind their
homes’ front doors.
The last-minute idea came to Bechstein on Sunday night. Lots of emailing and texting took place to get
the event going before the statewide “shelter-in-place” order that started at 11:59 p.m. on Monday due
to coronavirus.
The caravan started in Tontogany, then went to Haskins and Weston before ending in Grand Rapids. Teachers
made signs and painted their vehicle windows to provide a fun evening.
“You don’t realize how hard this is until it’s taken away,” Bechstein said about missing the students.
“Our kids are our community and we love them so much and we just want to show them that.”
As for distance learning, kindergarten teachers prepared three weeks’ worth of work and sent it home with
students. They are video chatting and emailing.
“So their learning is OK, but we know it’s putting a lot of stress on the parents and we don’t want that
to happen. They’re pretty much taking over our job and nobody wants that to happen,” Bechstein said.
As for the kids, “we want them to keep refreshing their brain without going stagnant.”