Items

• 
  2021-04-25

  Ready for the one shot and done

  Now that the CDC has cleared the J & J one shot and done again after the scare of blood clots people are ready to get their shots. Will people line up to get the J&J shot? I hope they will as there are lots of them in stock here.
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  2021-04-25

  Robert Baker-Nicholas Portfolio

  The internship experience has been one that has taught me many new and different skills that I did not have before or were very low on my abilities prior to this experience. Before I started this internship I had no experience in the field of public history or curation. I gained skills like learning how to preserve various sources for future posterity. I learned the process of properly using a system like Omeka, securing digital sources for the future, working on collections, oral histories, and more. The oral history part of my internship gave me skills that I can bring into my current role as a Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator by having some of our teachers encourage our students to conduct oral histories of our local town members in order to meet their standards in our state. My school uses the hands-on teaching method in order to bring the curriculum alive and this could be one way to implement and bring history alive. I also sharpened my skills of teamwork, collaboration, and virtual zooming in order to meet a project end goal. One thing this experience has taught me is that the pandemic has caused technology and collaboration to be taken to a next level and that I feel it will continue to grow and change in the future. This experience will also be memorable due to the fact that the actual documentation of the history is occurring while the events are happening not after the fact which is a unique experience.
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  2021-03-29

  Being More Social In The LGBTQ+ Community

  After getting my last dose of the vaccine my husband and I have been able to be more social with others in the LGBTQ+ Community and Allies who have had their vaccine. For the first time in a year we actually had a date night eating ramen and other yummy food then we were able to meet up with friends who have been vaccinated for drinks. This finally helps me to possibly see a light at the end of the tunnel.
• 
  2021-03-28

  Vaccinated

  I know the LGBTQ+ Community has a higher chance to have depression, anxiety, and other health ailments like many other minority communities. This Friday I got my second dose of the vaccine. I have been encouraging others in my LGBTQ+ Community to get the vaccine so this is one less health ailment they have to worry about.
• 
  03/13/2021

  Paul Jason Baker-Nicholas Oral History, 2021/03/26

  Paul Jason Baker-Nicholas gives an oral history interview about how COVID-19 has affected the LGBTQ+ Community.
• 
  03/13/2021

  Covid-19's Effect on LGBTQ+ Community in NYC

  Interview with Krystal McRae
• 
  2021-02-21

  Silver Lining Mini Oral History with Jessica Goldman

  This is an interview done by Robert Baker-Nicholas, interviewing Jessica Goldman for the Covid Archive. I asked her a couple of questions in this short mini oral history interview. The questions included her name, age, race and where she lives, along with the question that states, “What’s one positive thing you’ve experienced during the pandemic?” Jessica Goldman replies to the question with a detailed explanation of how the COVID-19 has impacted her job and her students.
• 
  02/21/2021

  Kim Feins-Snow Oral History, 2021/02/20

  This is an interview done by Robert Baker-Nicholas, interviewing Kim Feinz-Snow for the Covid Archive. I asked her a couple of questions in this short mini oral history interview. The questions included her name, age, race and where she lives, along with the question that states, “What’s one positive thing you’ve experienced during the pandemic?” Kim Feinz-Snow replies to the question with a detailed explanation on how the Covid had impacted her resilience and how she is actually more resilient than she originally thought she was.
• 
  2021-02-07

  Pet Love

  During this pandemic, the love of our fur babies has become even more important. Our fur babies have become even more spoiled I feel since many of us are working from home, holding meetings via zoom, and overall being forced to be sequestered with our own four walls. The increase of adoption of pets has been seen nationwide and I can see why as they provide love, comfort, entertainment, and more. Pets have been studied and it is a known fact that they lower stress, increase people in the positive direction, keep people active, and have many more benefits. I feel very blessed to have my fur babies. This is important to document during the pandemic because pets are all part of the pandemic experience because they have been affected by COVID-19 as well.
• 2021-02-07

  Spreading Happiness

  As a way to help my students stay social and emotionally well I have started to do a spread happiness wall where they have to leave at least one nice note to either a classmate or to me as a way to spread joy. To me, this will brighten their day and show them that someone cares for them and may help get some of them out of a funk of sadness and encourage more social interaction with one another. To me, this is very important because students are having a tuff time during the pandemic along with adults. Overall, all people need to know that they are cared for.
• 2021-02-07

  New Routines in Education

  The face of education has changed is an understatement. It is not even recognizable as it once was a year ago. We spend more time on hygiene than we have ever before. Most students in my school district have opted to stay online while the handful comes in small cohorts. We are required to keep the socially distanced, masks on, no circulation around the room, teaching them from the Zoom screen even if they are live in class. This has caused me as a teacher to be sad as I thrive on being able to teach my students face to face and interact with them however, I understand. This pandemic I feel has changed K-12 education forever and not for the best in some ways. The new way of teaching has caused many teachers to leave, change their attitudes, and have made us focus on just the basics of student's needs in many cases.
• 2021-02-07

  Gas and New Covid

  When I was pumping gas I realized how much has life has changed from about a year ago. This time last year I did not have to wear a mask, glove, and wipe down everything just to get gas. It is crazy to think that a simple task like getting gas requires people who are responsible to put on their mask, put on gloves, get their hand sanitizer/ hand sanitizer wipes and wipe down the card machine and the gas handle. Then finally, after that is all done you can insert your card push the buttons, choose your fuel grade, then pump, and finally, you can place the pump back on the machine. Then you have to strategically take off the gloves like I was trained when dealing with blood and then I have to use my hand sanitizer then I can get in my car and leave. This new task and very detail-oriented "dance" was foreign to most of us this time one year ago and now it has become a way of life. This is important to note this change because there was a time before that it was not like this and maybe one day we may get close back to that but if not we need to document the change.
• 
  2021-01-31

  Trying New Things With Teaching

  I currently teach sixth grade Social Studies and due to the pandemic, I have been in and out of face to face teaching for about a year. The pandemic has caused me to try new things educational software-wise in my virtual classes. Before the pandemic, I would have considered myself a pretty tech-savvy teacher but now I have fully integrated many new educational programs into my toolbox. I am now using new programs like News ELA and Flocabulary to increase student engagement in my virtual classes. NewsELA lets me choose articles about current events or subjects we are currently learning about. The students then can discuss these topics in class together which has caused many of them to come out of their shells. Flocabulary brings various Social Studies topics alive by turning them into animated rap videos which my students love. I even see myself sometimes bopping along to the songs. Overall, these two programs have increased my student's engagement and interaction with one another in class.
• 
  2021-01-31

  Change in Teaching

  As a teacher for thirteen years of Social Studies this pandemic has greatly impacted me when it comes to my job as an educator. As teachers, we do lesson plans, grade assignments, implement IEPS/504s, hold parent/ teacher conferences, motivate students, listen to students, increase student growth, and so much more. However, due to COVID-19, the role of the educator has changed even more from not just educating the student, we have to now clean the desks and surfaces when we are in person or even virtual when reporting to the building. I have to wear face masks when in common areas, teaching online all day even if we are face to face because there are still students at-home learning. This shift from being able to sit next to a student and walk around the room to now being away from them all together has caused a shift for the students and for me as the teacher. It has made me very sad due to the fact that I am a teacher who enjoys helping my students and sitting next to them and interacting with them.
• 
  2021-01-30

  Mood Boards!

  Being a teacher in the K-12 arena I am always having to do lesson plans, grades, parent contacts, and more. Then here comes COVID-19 adding an extra layer which also adds its extra challenge to the problem. This includes thinking more about the student Social Emotional Learning (SEL) which mean doing more check-ins on how they are doing emotionally. So, I included one example I have done with my students which was dealing with emojis and which one they felt like that day and why. I received various answers and reasons which helped me see how my students felt physically and emotionally. I enjoyed this activity and so did my students. They love hearing which one I am and why as well.
• 
  2020-01

  Doggy Love for Patient!

  The photo shows me and my dog while I was in the hospital doing chemotherapy for Testicular Cancer. By that point, I had been in the hospital for three weeks and we had got a prescription for me to be able to bring my dogs in order to cheer me up. My husband brought me our dogs Little Man (Miniature Dauschuand) and Lady (Whippet Terrier Mix). I was so happy to see them that I cried. The fur babies were so happy to see me that they just jumped on me and began licking me. This shows how lonely the covid-19 had made me and how the doctors were able to allow my furbabies to come to visit me which cheered me up.
• 
  2019-09-13

  Canceled Pride Parade

  My first time at a Pride parade was in 2019. The time at the pride parade made me super proud of who I am and that facet of my life. The photo I chose from the parade is that of the giant unicorn. I chose to use the unicorn photo because it truly represents LGBTQ+ people I feel because many people in my community consider themselves a unicorn which represents a mythological creature that is a myth and shows people view them as unique. The reason this picture represents Covid-19 is that for the past two years the Pride Parade in Durham, North Carolina has been canceled. It has bummed me out not being able to go to the Pride parade because having a new excitement for my community made me sad that I could not continue this. Also, I was looking forward to this event annually and making it a tradition.
• 
  2020-10-15

  Board Game Anything But Boring!

  The picture I submitted shows how I have dealt with the pandemic in order to pass my time during the quarantine. I have started to play more board games with family and friends in order to pass the time and keep my mind active. All of us who play truly have started to enjoy playing the board game Risk as it allows for us to strategize, enjoy each other’s company, and to increase our mental activity. This game is fun as well because it allows us to catch up with one another over this long and fun board game.
• 
  2019-06-08

  My New Puppy

  The picture that I am sharing is that of our newest family member, Petey. He is a Catahoula Leopard Dog who has webbed feet and was bred to go into the bogs. My husband and I found him online from an animal rescue in which we found out he had been abused which made us love him evermore. We have been wanting to get a new puppy for a while in order for our other two fur babies to have a playmate. As a result of the pandemic, we thought now would be the best time since I am working from home and it affords me to be able to train and work with a puppy. This is important to me because he has become a vital part of our homemaking. We keep our sense of humor, even more, bringing new adventures, and allowing for us to make a home for a dog that had not seen love before. To say the least, Petey has fit into our household great and is now part of the pack.