Actor and comedian JIMMY FALLON’s wife launched a school for the children of the couple’s neighbours and friends during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ongoing global health crisis forced schools around the world to close last year (20), and students had to study from home with the help of Zoom classes and their parents.
But after noticing her two children weren’t paying attention to teachers online, Jimmy Fallon’s wife Nancy Juvonen took matters into her own hands and set up her own “pod school” for the kids in the area.
“Last spring, when they (daughters) were on Zoom school, you can see they get distracted – you look away and a couple of minutes later they’re playing with dolls… so my wife started a school,” Jimmy Fallon tells People.
“We said, ‘Let’s just have a pod school with our neighbours and friends’, so we got teachers and a principal and a teacher’s assistant and a curriculum from the school district… It’s legit.”
The school has even been kitted out with old lockers from a high school and other materials bought from eBay. “My wife went all out,” Jimmy Fallon adds. “We were so lucky to be able to pull it off.”
His daughters and their friends are now back at school, but they haven’t been able to see their grandparents since the beginning of the pandemic lockdown exactly a year ago, due to the increased risks faced by the elderly and those with underlying conditions.
Jimmy Fallon says, “My dad has some underlying conditions. It’s tough. My kids haven’t really spent time with their grandparents all year.”
However, Jimmy’s dad recently received his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and the family is hoping for a reunion soon: “It’s gotta be emotional, man,” Jimmy explains.