Fairhaven Middle School Teachers Create 'Get Dressed' Challenge

Have you heard of the #GetDressed Challenge? It's brand new to the SouthCoast and encourages everyone to do just that: get up, get dressed and get focused.

Monica Landis is a Special Education teacher for grades 6-8 at the Elizabeth Hastings Middle School in Fairhaven, as well as the brains behind this video project. It's aimed not only for the students at Elizabeth Hastings, but for all students out there as a way to get motivated.

Landis has been teaching at Elizabeth Hastings for nine years and still connects with her students throughout the week via video conference to continue on with her curriculum.

"We're encouraged to send videos to the kids," Landis said. "We're all more productive when we're up and dressed, so it's a great message for them."

Surfaces' latest song here on Fun 107 is titled "Sunday Best," and the moment Landis heard the song, she knew it was the perfect fit.

"We chose this song to connect more with the kids so it would be more relevant to them," Landis said. "I reached out to the other teachers to join in including the gym teachers, music teachers, etc."

Here's how the challenge works: you first start off in your comfy hang around the house clothes and with the tap of a book to the camera screen, you then transform into something a little more formal such as teacher attire, or in this instance, their "Sunday Best."

"It was nice to unify the staff together," Landis said. "It was fun to connect with the teachers in a different way other than the normal everyday curriculum."

Landis found inspiration through positivity, all while producing a fun and organic project.

"I wanted to find a way to encourage the kids to let them know that we're all in this together, don't give up," Landis said. "That was the heart of it. Kids love seeing teachers outside of the norm so it was a way to let them in a little."

Kudos to Ms. Landis and the rest of the staff over at Elizabeth Hastings Middle School for a great job with the video and for continuing to lift the spirits of their students through these difficult times.