Tormented by ‘Glitchen,’ this Hamilton kindergarten class survived the online school year with humour

Savannah can't join her homeroom.

Jack can't hear his teacher.

Giulia can't see her frozen classmates.

It must be Glitchen: The mischievous character created by a kindergarten class to pin the blame for any technical hiccup they encountered during a spotty - and glitchy - year of virtual learning.

In part facetious, in part serious, Hamilton teacher Lois Mercanti says Glitchen became the run-on joke that kept her four- and five-year-old students sane during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The character first surfaced in September when Mercanti, a longtime arts and music teacher, was assigned to teach a full-year kindergarten class at the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board's virtual school.

She'd never taught kindergarten before - much less over a screen.

Virtual was so difficult and frustrating at first," says Mercanti, 64. There was computer glitches, the internet went out, the kids couldn't log on. So one day I said, Would you like to write a story about all these (problems), boys and girls?'"

Well, we needed a name, and one of the students' moms said, You've got the name, you say it all the time. Glitchy, everything is so glitchy,'" adds Mercanti. And I said, That's it! Glitchen!'"

And so the legend of Glitchen was born: Santa's roguish elf responsible for all the technical shortcomings that come with virtual learning.

Over the next several months, Mercanti's 19 students each drew an illustration along with a caption depicting what they believed Glitchen looked like and how he affected them.

It culminated in a 47-page picture book, release in June, that told the story of how one fictitious character helped a kindergarten class survive the online school year with humour and creativity.

This morning we have a power outage," reads one illustration caption. I can't get into class. Now there's a lightning storm. It must be Glitchen!"

At the end of the day, after we've been dismissed from class, Mrs. Mercanti can't let me (log) out. It must be Glitchen!" reads another.

Glitchen makes my computer freeze and does strange things to it. I think sometimes Glitchen messes it up to help us get more free time. Thank you, Glitchen!" reads a third.

Mercanti says the illustration exercise was such a hit, her class is already working on a joke book featuring, of course, only Glitchen.

What happens when Glitchen takes a shower? He freezes!" says Mercanti, chuckling. Why did Glitchen cross the road? To get better reception - so he can glitch it!"

Mercanti believes Glitchen provided her students with more than just comedic relief. There was a strong lesson in the character about life and making the most out of any situation, she says.

When life throws you a curve ball, you got to go with the curve," Mercanti says. It can be difficult, virtual learning, but it's not that heavy when you think of Glitchen. He affected the whole world.

This year started off overwhelming, but it was really a blessing. I felt like those kids - so innocent, so receptive and sharp and off-the-cuff - were hand-picked for me. They were a great group."

Sebastian Bron is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sbron@thespec.com