Cops & Doughnuts owners teach fun, online lessons for kids at home

Kids who can’t go to school. Doughnut shop owners who had to close their seating area. What may seem like an unlikely partnership has formed the foundation of an online learning experience for children over the next three weeks.

Greg “Ryno” Rynearson, co-owner of Cops & Doughnuts Greg “Ryno” Rynearson and Alan “Bubba” White, two of the nine owners of Cops & Doughnuts, are teaching short, fun lessons at 2 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on Facebook for kids while they’re home from school amid COVID-19 concerns. The lessons are called, “Learnin with Bubba & Ryno” and feature a variety of topics – the first of which, of course, was about making doughnuts.

“We have enough fun that even the adults will get a kick out of some of the stuff,” says White.
 

The idea for these lessons was inspired after White’s scheduled book-reading for a class in Owosso got cancelled when schools shut down.

White says during his career as a cop he worked with kids a lot – something he still enjoys doing by going to schools and reading books to kids. When schools closed, one of the Cops & Doughnuts co-owners suggested a creative solution.

“One of our other owners said, ‘Why don’t you read to kids in their own homes?’ The more I thought about it I thought everyone’s kind of hunkered down and if we do this it might be something the kids could look forward to,” White says.

Alan “Bubba” White, co-owner of Cops & DoughnutsCurrently, Cops & Doughnuts has closed their seating area and is doing take out only for the time being, though delivery is also available from the doughnut shop. So, it was the perfect opportunity for these lessons. The first lesson on Monday, Mar. 16 had over 13,000 views – far more than White expected.

“I thought we’d see a few families tuned in,” he says. “We’re getting pictures sent in from Indiana and an entire classroom from Texas tunes in.”

The next episode on Friday, Mar. 20 will feature Ryno and Bubba on the road at the health department to do a lesson on handwashing and the importance of cleanliness, White says.

“Ryno and I will make it entertaining, but there will be a lesson there.”