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

Alan “Bubba” White, co-owner of Cops & DoughnutsKids 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.

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. 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.

Greg “Ryno” Rynearson, co-owner of Cops & Doughnuts“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.

Currently, Cops & Doughnuts has closed its seating area and is doing take out only. Cops & Doughnuts Sutherland Precinct, at 710 E. Midland St. in Bay City, asks that only 5 customers enter the store at a time and remain at least 6 feet away from each other.

The restrictions make it the perfect time for these lessons. The first lesson on March 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 episode on March 20 featured 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.”