The statewide stay-at-home order has been difficult for workers who have had to innovate in order to continue working from a home setting, with teachers facing special challenges being physically separated from their students.

Other obstacles stand in a teacher’s path in addition to not being able to see students face-to-face. Poor internet connectivity plagues many educators in Gloucester and Mathews, and working with their own children or other people in the house can make their schedules more difficult. Even making sure students stay engaged in the classes and updates to begin with was bound to be a hassle.

Leslie Hudgins of Thomas Hunter Middle School in Mathews said that she had poor internet connection herself, so she and her husband purchased an unlimited data plan for their phones so that they could “hotspot” their computers to be able to work.

Carrie Landry, a third grade teacher at Botetourt Elementary and a finalist for Gloucester’s teacher of the year, has had con...