A proper send off: Karla and Florence travel through River Ridge School District to hear student presentations and put a personal touch on the school year’s end

HANOVER–Julianna Kuzniar begins, “Mi pintura se llama ‘El Dolor de Soledad.’ No soy artista...”

Her River Ridge Spanish teacher Karla Nicholas leans forward with forearms on her bike and with a look in her eyes that shows she’s listening intently.

Kuzniar is a senior at River Ridge High School. She’s one of seven students in Nicholas’ fourth-year high school Spanish class. At the entrance to Kuzniar’s driveway is a sign telling the world that she is graduating this spring, but graduation is delayed. She’s also missing out on prom and a trip to New York, all due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are other special things missing for students in this Spanish class: end-of-the-year classroom presentations, a bike outing on the Galena River Trail and lunch at Los Aztecas. Nicholas picks up the tab for lunch.

“My kids were excited about doing that (lunch and the bike ride),” she says. By the tone in her voice, she was as well.

The end-of-the-year presentations involved studying Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

They studied how Kahlo had a habit of accentuating a feature in her paintings as well as using symbolism. They talked about her life and how something would be really painful or of which she would be passionate.

The second part of the project involved creating a self-portrait, highlight some physical feature, incorporating symbolism and then be prepared to discuss the self-portrait in Spanish.

Then, the pandemic changed everything: school closed so there was no class time for the presentations, no bike outing and no lunch at Los Aztecas.

At home, students continued working on their art projects.

Nicholas wanted to bring proper closure to the school year for her students and herself. Online presentations didn’t quite cut it. She wanted something personal.

Nicholas had a trick up her sleeve.

Why not hop on her trusty bike, Florence, and ride to each student’s home for the presentation and an appropriate socially distant goodbye?

That’s a lot of miles to cover visiting those students. But, that’s not a problem. One can easily say that bike riding is more than a hobby for Nicholas. It’s something for which she’s passionate.

Case in point: She rode her bike–rain, sun, wind and snow–every day during April.

“My legs are a bit sore,” she admitted on May 4.

All of this is why Kuzniar spoke in Spanish on her driveway and Nicholas was listening so intently on this beautiful May day.

Because she’s not an artist, Kuzniar tells Nicholas how her sister has provided useful advice with this “autorretrato,” self-portrait.

This artwork is reflective of the new world in which Kuzniar now lives.

With her in the painting is Webster, her cat. She says that at times cats need love and comfort, exactly what she needs from her family at this moment.

Kuzniar painted herself with a blue shirt, a color that can be intense and yet fill one with tranquility. She explains that despite being sad about missing graduation and that class trip to New York, knowing that others are in the same situation has helped her maintain calm and tranquility.

She’s painted the sky green, a sign that a storm is on its way. She says, “Durante la pandemia estamos en una tormenta”. . .During the pandemic we are in a storm.

She further explains that green is a color representing envy. She envies those days before the pandemic and wants the world to return to normal.

And then there are the clouds. Clouds represent dreams. . .dreams that the world does return to normal.

She finishes, “These were my intentions for the painting, but in the end, I would like for everyone to view it in their own way. ¡Eso es todo!”

Nicholas smiles as Kuzniar finishes. She’s proud of her student and tells her what a great job she’s done.

But, ever the teacher, Nicholas points out a grammatical issue: a subjunctive verb should have been used instead of an indicative verb.

Kuzniar is headed to Iowa State University this fall to study kinesiology and then physical therapy. She is thrilled Nicholas made the effort to venture out from Elizabeth to her home on South Hanover Hill Road for the presentation.

“It’s nice to see people in person. This is different than my other classes,” she says. “I just wish we could have done this (the presentations) in school.”

For Nicholas, this is her fifth home visit with Florence. She’s also been to the homes of Tayden Patterson, Andrew Merkel, Madeline Klippert and Kathryn Walters. She’s yet to visit Derek Lehman and Brianna Boop.

Underneath a beautiful blue sky along with a few clouds, Nicholas flashes a big smile before she heads down the driveway with Florence. She’s also obviously pleased that this socially appropriate send-off has been so successful.