Dolly Parton sits up front (next to Gov. Beshear). Teachers get creative in virtual classes.

When Whitney Walker’s students at Lafayette High School began learning remotely from home, she placed life sized cutouts of celebrities at their empty desks in her classroom to create a thought-provoking background for daily ZOOM sessions.

Dolly Parton is in the front row. Kobe Bryant sits in the room, not far from Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and sign language interpreter Virginia Moore, George W. Bush and Michelle Obama. Every seat is filled with a historical figure or a celebrity known to the kids.

“I thought this would be a way to make the classroom feel like it’s alive,” Walker said.

Shad Lacefield, a fourth-grade teacher at Garden Springs Elementary, dresses or presents as a different character every day -- from Batman to a snowman for his Zoom and online sessions.

“This year can be scary and the things that we are facing might be scary, but we know the force is strong with you,” Lacefield as Darth Vader told students this fall.

The Lexington teachers say they want to bring some fun learning into an otherwise uncertain time as Fayette County Public Schools and other districts across Kentucky deal with the loss of face-to-face instruction during the coronavirus pandemic. Fayette schools have only had limited in-person learning since March and officials have said remote learning solely will continue through at least January 11.

Walker said she had been a teacher at Lafayette for 15 years, teaching government and geography classes, but she was new to online teaching.

To approach a semester where she had not met her students was tough on everyone. She had seen cardboard cutouts at ballgames depicting people sitting in the stands and thought something similar might work in her classroom.

Walker, a current UK doctoral scholar, sought help from retired Lafayette librarian Susie Jolliffe and student teacher Mallory Shaw, who created the seating chart.

The cutouts represent diverse political ideologies. Walker’s students discuss what conversations various figures might have.

Walker said when some students come back to the classroom and others stay home in the hybrid learning model that Fayette school officials expect to implement, she can fill the empty seats with the life-sized cutouts.

Lafayette senior Isabelle Logsdon said “for a lot of kids the cutouts are fun eye candy. But they also act as reminders.”

Lafayette “is a diverse school with a prominent arts and science program. Students can look into Ms. Walker‘s classroom and see figures like Dolly Parton, Trevor Noah, Malala Yousafzai, those powerful figures act as inspiration for what that student could be. There is no room for discrimination, hate, or close mindedness,” Isabelle said.

“The cut out of current Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear catches my eye the most,” she said. “He is a symbol of hope and stability during an incredible difficult season of transition for students all across the state.”

Lacefield dresses up each day in one of about 30 costumes and uses interactive backgrounds to get his students excited about what they are learning.

“I’ll try to do a costume that connects with the content I’m teaching,” he said. “One time I dressed as a solar panel.”

Ashley Smith, whose daughter Camille Smith is in Lacefield’s class, said though she’s in favor of in-class instruction, “Mr. Lacefield goes above and beyond to keep his students engaged daily on ZOOM calls. “

“Camille says she looks forward to seeing what he will be dressed as every morning,” said Smith.

“He’s been dressed as an elf, a snowman, super heroes, a giraffe in a Santa hat, and Curious George to name a few. This makes the virtual experience a lot more fun and interesting for the kiddos,” she said.

Smith said Lacefield makes quizzes fun by playing a game through an online program in which students choose a character and when they answer questions correctly their character climbs a mountain.

He also spins a wheel to randomly choose students who are finished with all assignments and using masks and gloves and social distancing, goes to the students’ house dressed and masked as Darth Vader to play an outdoor game with them. Camille got to play Bocce Ball, she said.

“All of the teachers at Garden Springs Elementary have been amazing at keeping things interactive and fun instead of just assigning work and asking students to turn it in,” Smith said. “It has been the closest thing to being in class despite the circumstances.”