Items

• 
  2022-04-26

  Street food snacks

  My daughter is attending 2nd grade in Arequipa, Peru for a few months. Today was her first day, and when we went to pick her up the school exit was surrounded by food vendors ready to sell a snack to the kids and parents. In the background of the photo, you can see two food vendors wearing masks, both offering deserts (the woman in the background has an ice cream cart).
• 
  2020-07-28

  Petri Dish HS

  A comic strip about Covid-19
• 
  2020-07-22

  School reopening Jenga

  A comic strip about Covid-19
• 
  2022-03-21

  In Hanover, the anti-LGBTQ school board needs discipline, not protesting students

  This story is about the school board of Hanover County in Virginia needing discipline instead of letting it's students protest and participate in walk-outs during school hours because of the policies against their transgender students. The school board is accused of having no intentions of supporting the non-binary and transgender students of Hanover. This is important because it is once again showing discriminatory policies that the school board keeps bringing up against transgender students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• 2022-03-15

  Passionate and (mostly) respectful recent debate in the waning pandemic

  While the all-encompassing strength of the COVID-19 Pandemic is waning, it still persists and lingers. This is a critical time where countries can either dreamily and abruptly attempt to return to idealized pre-pandemic existence or continue to return to their visions of normalcy through steps found in scientific methodology. Debates that focused on safety, health, and personal freedoms (especially about masks and vaccines) were constantly in the news the last two years, with some deteriorating into disheartening and embarrassing public displays. Surely, these debates will continue indefinitely, and all perspectives will be important to history. While browsing this archive, many of the stories are of those who subscribe to the reality of the pandemic, who trust and listen to science, and who have highlighted the way their lives have changed during the pandemic. I am from Arizona, born and raised. I often find myself to be the lone liberal or democrat, particularly at work, in a state formerly known as a red state, now perhaps purple. While Arizona is well represented in this archive regarding life during a pandemic, it has many people living in it who dispute the pandemic's origin, virulence, and the government's attempt to control personal freedoms, as much as I personally disagree. The attached YouTube video shows a meeting of the Kyrene School District Governing Board from January 25th, 2022. The relevant background is that before the 2021 Winter Holiday break this district emailed parents that masks would no longer be mandatory after the new year. By the end of the break, Omicron infections had increased, and the district regressed back to mandatory masks after the holidays. Please watch, specifically from minutes 20:35 through 38:28. To me, a person who reads a diverse group of news sites daily, this clip has brought me hope. Of all the ugly comments I have read on far right or left news sites, debate like the one in this video is instead mostly constructive, passionate, and respectful. I may not agree with everything discussed in this sample, but I respect people's right to debate their beliefs. I believe studying other perspectives is useful for future generations. Historians one hundred years from now may wonder why certain people thought masks were useless in schools. Hopefully, between this J.O.T.P.Y. archive and the articles that exist on the internet, a thoughtful sample of diverse perspectives can be researched. Additionally, I hope this video adds to material in this archive that demonstrates the anti-mask perspective to historians who could research and educate future generations on state and federal authority during health crises to hopefully prevent conflicts as we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic. This video is owned and uploaded by the Kyrene School District to YouTube.
• 
  2020-08-31

  First Day of School

  A comic strip about Covid-19 Covid's First Day of School My Teacher Is "not here for long" I Am "legion" I Want to Be "in your lungs" When I Grow Up I Love "low HVAC ratings"
• 
  2020-03

  Growth Through a Pandemic

  The Covid-19 pandemic has brought an array of challenges for not only me, but people across the globe. People have lost loved ones, lost touch with some of their closest friends, got covid themselves, and so much more. Although Covid-19 has taken a long-lasting toll on my life, it has also brought me great change in an extremely positive way. When the pandemic first started my family and I were forced into a “lockdown”, only leaving our house for the essentials like food. I was unable to see my friends as online schooling became more and more prominent. This took such a toll on me both mentally and physically. I was longing for a social connection that I could no longer get and was unable to do one of the things I love to do most, workout. Although at the time I thought it was the worst thing possible, the lockdown caused my family and I to get extremely close. We would have family dinners, play games, and watch movies. The pandemic helped me to realize how much I rely on my family, and that through thick and thin they will always be there for me. As the pandemic progressed, I got accepted into Duquesne University, and started college soon after. This was a huge adjustment for me as I am from Buffalo, three and a half hours away. I had to meet new people and get adjusted to home away from home amid a global pandemic. I had to overcome fear of the unknown and fear of the pandemic to grow as an individual, and I did just that. Through the last three semesters I have met so many amazing people and found the things that make me happy while at Duquesne. I learned to not let fear override you, and that to grow physically and mentally you must overcome fear. Across the entire pandemic I have also learned that sometimes you need to focus on yourself and put yourself first. Throughout the pandemic I got into the habit of going to the gym consistently and began to eat more cleanly. I found joy in the little things, like going to work and building relationships with my fellow employees. In the end, the pandemic taught me to always look on the brightside no matter what and to make the most of everything that is thrown at you, good or bad. Looking back at it, the Covid-19 pandemic helped me grow and become the person I am today.
• 2022-02-06

  A never ending battle on COVID-19

  It’s been nearly two years since the start of the pandemic, and if you ask some people, the state of this disaster hasn’t improved a whole lot. I turned 20 a few days ago, which marks my second birthday that has passed since the official start of Covid, which if I’m remembering correctly was March 13th, 2020. I’ll never forget the announcement made over the Pine Richland High School loudspeakers that day. Sitting in the back of the statistics classroom, the statement told us that we would have no school for the next two weeks, which at the time beat any time off we’d ever had prior. Fast forward two years later and we still wear masks indoors. We still have to wash or sanitize our hands after just about any surface we touch to hope we don’t get the virus. Even more importantly, I haven’t been able to see some of my family for years now. Driving all the way out to New York would be risky since they aren’t in the best health, and it’s not worth taking any chances with how bad this virus can be for some people. The worst part of it all has to be that we don’t know when this is going to end. It’s been long enough that the pandemic has become political, with rivalries between those who choose and refuse to get the vaccine, but will it ever stop? Will there ever be a point in time that we can all feel safe enough to be able to do anything without living in fear of this virus? I never expected to be sitting here years after this all started writing how just about anything is still affected by Covid, but I guess I’ve gotten used to it. After all of this, though, the whole “you never know what you got until it’s gone” saying really does remain true.
• 2020-04

  Blessing in Disguise

  2020 started out great. I finally started to like my experience as a freshman at Duquesne. I really took a liking to my classes and the sorority that I joined, and I was always busy which was a nice change of pace from the fall semester. With this, I met a lot of amazing people who soon would become my closest friends. I was having a great start to the year. However, that all came to a pause in the middle of March. What I thought was going to be a 2-week vacation turned out to be a complete change in the way we live our lives. Zoom University was a nice break but it soon turned into a nightmare. I myself am a home-body, but getting up every single day knowing that I was about to have the same exact day as the next and the next was really hard. I had a really hard time not seeing family, friends, maintaining relationships, and just trying to stay sane during this quarantine. While this seemed like a never-ending cycle that would soon drive me and everyone in my house insane, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. While I really loved my life at school, I realized that I didn’t have much time to focus on myself. It was just one distraction after the next. I finally got to really do things for myself. I made it a habit to workout inside the house, go on daily walks with my family, journal my thoughts, and really work on finding my inner peace. During this time, I realized that some things I had in my life pre-covid that I thought were serving me and bringing value, were not. Covid really stripped down every distraction and made it clear what was making me happy and what wasn’t, and for that I am grateful. Although it came with many struggles, covid taught a lesson to myself and I think to a lot of people of how to adapt well to a situation and focus on what is important, your well-being and the well-being of those closest to you and get back to your roots!
• 
  2021-11-09

  SMhopes banner with Santa Monica Public Library

  Graphic banner made from a submission to #SMhopes by Roxane D., a Fifth Grade student in Paula Flynn's class at Franklin Elementary School in Santa Monica, CA. In cooperation with Santa Monica Public Library, at the historic Ocean Park Branch on Main Street and Ocean Park.
• 
  12/11/2020

  Janet Pope Oral History, 2020/12/11

  C19OH
• 
  04/07/2021

  Abby Sobolewski Oral History, 2021/07/04

  [Curator's Note] Abby Sobolewski talks about her family, education, and work. She then answers questions about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected her job as a teacher, her everyday life, and her family.
• 
  2021-10-21

  HIST30060 Back to School

  This is an image of my younger siblings on their first day back at school! My sister started her first year of school last year, so her entire schooling experience has been broken up into periods of online learning. Everyone in her grade 1 class is struggling a bit as they haven’t had a proper experience of going to school. It is not mandatory for grades prep to 2 to be wearing face masks in class; however, my brother has been admitted to the hospital a couple of times when he has a bad asthma attack so we’re trying to be as careful as we can. As you can see there are mixed feelings attached to going back to class, both were excited to see their friends and teachers, but will miss spending the whole day at home with dad and me.
• 
  2021-11-01

  COVID-safe posters in school - Jewish Melbourne

  "Be a Mench, Wear a Mask." Sounds like a Jewish superhero slogan! This poster, using the Yiddish word 'mench' or 'mentsh,' "a person of integrity and honor," published in the Australian Jewish News has been cut out and stuck onto the door of the Jewish Studies (ייִדישע שטודיעס) office, alongside a sign expressing the limit of people inside the room. There has been unclear government mandates on mask wearing inside schools, mainly when it comes to standing at the head of a classroom, but this poster has reminded all walking past the JS office of the mask's importance throughout the pandemic.
• 
  2020-09-01

  Every story matters - Student's perspective

  Classes in Fall 2020 were either fully virtual or hybrid. In hybrid classes, the professors would have to put the projector with some students being on zoom. This was a good idea because it helped students be safe and at the same time learn. It was also challenging because sometimes professors would pay more attention to the students that were in the classroom and not the ones on zoom. I took this picture a year ago to show my parents how classes were working. This was something my parents appreciated because they saw that St. Mary’s University was using all their resources to help students continue their studies. They liked seeing me continue my college experience in a different way but not fully virtual. I saved this picture for over a year to see the changes the world was going to have during the pandemic. I am glad we are finding new solutions and making changes with still being careful with COVID-19 guidelines.
• 
  2020-03-19

  Pandemic Smells and Silence

  When the pandemic became widespread enough for schools to start shutting down, it seems that’s when life really changed. I remember - it was March 2020 - and my school district had just gone on spring break. It was still uncertain whether teachers and students would be returning to their classroom after break’s end. We were asked to come into our classrooms to gather any teaching supplies we might be able to use to teach virtually in the event that we would be told to remain at home. When I arrived at school, it was so quiet. There were a few cars parked in the parking lot, but no people to be seen. The usual student chatter, catching fragments of conversation as they walked by, the bustle of cars parking was gone. As I entered my building, a wave of chemically cleaned and sanitized air blasted my nostrils. The smells of bleach and whatever other industrial cleaners schools use wafted through the halls. They had recently been cleaned - I had never seen them so pristine. A few custodian cleaning carts were scattered nearby, but still no one to be seen. Every footfall seemed louder against the backdrop of silence. The deserted hallway and the chemical smell assaulting my olfactory system had turned my second home into something sterile and unwelcoming. Entering my classroom, I noticed it, too, had been sanitized with heavy chemicals and a jug of hand sanitizer had unceremoniously been plopped on my desk. I surveyed my classroom, nostrils burning from the bleach again, grabbed what I needed and went home. It would be the last time I would see my classroom for a long time. The memory of that shining, white hallway and the burning air of “purification” has stayed with me.
• 
  2020-10-02

  Back to School (post-quarantine): Teacher Edition

  Back to school is always a scary day for kids, but it can be for teachers too--especially after getting used to remote learning for so long. 2020 was my first year as a teacher. I started teaching online, and we eventually transitioned back into the classroom. For me, it was my first time in the classroom. I was super nervous about teaching and about all of the risks involved with school reopening. Thankfully, my school administration helped make everyone feel comfortable, and we had a lot of fun celebrating the start of school! This is a picture with a coworker of mine, my "classroom neighbor."
• 2020-11-07

  You're Fired [PRIVATE -DUPLICATE]

  I worked the polls at Nevitt Forest Elementary during the 59th presidential election. The lines were crowded at 6:00 prior to the polls official opening at 7:00. The energy in the voting room was definitely mixed--some determined, some anxious, and some angry at the previous conditions of Trump administration of 2017-21. Although the energy of the election results are still mixed today still, this meme reflects one of the more amused and joyous reactions of the election turnout. Thus, using one of Trump's infamous lines of his famed tv show Celebrity Apprentice, this meme pokes fun at the importance of public ratings not only in pop culture but in politics as well.
• 
  2021-10-08

  My covied-19 experience: Ella McMullen

  My name is Ella McMullen, I live in Nampa Idaho. I go to Lone Star middle school. When Covied-19 started I was 11 years old, Covied has affected millions of people. My family is one of them. When my mom and dad got covied my brother, sister, and I all went to live with my grandparents. We lived with my grandparents for about 3 weeks. While we were living with my grandparents, my mom got the bad side of Covied. She ended up having to go to the hospital, she had to go because of her breathing. She had to have around 14 litters of air while she was in the hospital. Thankfully, she was only there for about a week. When she got out, she had to still be on air. So, it was difficult when we had to go out because we had to make sure we had the air tank full, and we had an extra one with us just in case. My mother was on air for about 6 months. After my mom got better, she was really stressed. My dad was still sick, but he thankfully did not go to the hospital. My dad was only sick for about 2 weeks. He got the safer side of covied. That is how covied affected my life.
• 
  2021-10-08

  My Pandemic Life

  My name is Ella Bowman and I’m 12 years old, I currently reside in Nampa, Idaho. I like to ride horses, be adventurous, read, and I like cooking and baking with my grandma. I currently go to Lone Star middle school, my elementary school I went to when Covid hit was Willow Creek Elementary. And I’ve lived through history. I like to think that my experience with Covid was a lot better than most people but like everyone, I had challenges. When Covid hit, I was in the fifth grade. I was sick before my school went to online completely. However, I just had the cold, not coronavirus. I believe it was a Friday, everyone was given the option to return to school. I went to school and half the school wasn’t there. To this day, I remember that day. The day before that Friday I never saw my childhood best friend, Shelby, again. She moved schools and wasn’t there on Friday. I had class at the kitchen table, on the floor of my room, on my bed, at my desk, or outside. I didn’t begin middle school like a normal year. My first day was online, and I didn’t get to do any of the fun things my brother would talk about. Last year, we had 5 first days of school: back and forth: online, in-person, half days, and 4 days a week. We had to wear masks all day, and they were strict about it. We had one-way hallways, which made sure we got our steps in. Everyone living through this pandemic always knows that whenever someone is gone for two weeks, they either have Covid or something related like that. Something that we also know very clearly is that we all must keep 6 feet distance. The beginning of this school year is a lot better, Covid wise. Masks are optional, we get lockers, and we’re less strict with rules like last year. We don’t have one-way hallways, and we get 10 to a table. Last year it was only 3 to a table. This year is truly like my first year of middle school but altered. I would agree that from 4th grade to 7th grade, things have changed. When I was in fourth grade, I had no caring concern in the world. I had so many fun memories in elementary school and when the pandemic struck, I was worried all that would go away. I had a “Fortnite” phase in the 5th grade, so during the mandatory two-week quarantine, I played video games. Then again, I’m sure every kid played Fortnite at one point. I remember when my family was stocking up for food, I kid you not, the shelves were empty. Some would totally believe me and others it would be harder for people to wrap their heads around. A lot of perishables were stripped off the shelves. My parents like to playthings safe. They wouldn’t let me touch anything in the stores, and I couldn’t hang out with my friends, unless if we wear masks. My friends came over with masks and we hung out outside. In the rain. Yes, it was raining that day, but we wanted to hang out outside. We had a campfire, we put an umbrella over it but stopped because the umbrella was getting hot. So, my friends and I went to great lengths to have fun during the pandemic. Also, I was pen pals with one of my friends, and our group of friends held Zoom meetings so we could chat. My grandpa also took this situation very seriously. For a whole year, I couldn’t get more within 6 feet of them and couldn’t go into their house. When they finally got the vaccine, I was able to see them. However, just because I didn’t have a super hard time doesn’t mean other people didn’t. The suicide rates came up, more people were dying than being born, and people legitimately became animals. I had a friend who wanted to commit suicide, myself. The world has changed: some in good, some in bad. Something that truly did help me process a lot of this was just simply writing it down. Journaling helps a lot, and I tried to document a lot of the experience. My dad likes to make sure that his family has a good experience and life, so he took us on drives and fishing. Things that you can do without being in a crowd. I had it a lot better than most people, but I still had an experience with the pandemic. All in all, I’m glad I had this experience. I’m glad I lived through history and I’m glad that I have a story to tell.
• 
  2021-10-08

  My life During the Covid 19 Outbreak

  Hi, my name is Shay Wurst, and I am 12 years old. I go to Lone Star Middle School, I like to hike, play outside, and play with Legos. These last 2 years have been hard being online and wearing masks. This year is different than last year because we have lockers, go to school 5 days a week, see the bottom half of people's faces and be at school for the rest of the year. This year is different than 4th grade because. 4th grade I was in elementary school, I have lockers, and I don’t switch classes. I very happy that this year is better than last year.
• 
  2021-10-08

  Lone Star Covid Archive

  My name is Cardin Madera I go to Lone Star Middle School, and I enjoy school. I would describe the start of this school year weird because it has been a long time when I last went to a full year of school and I am not into the routine yet, so it makes it weird. Last year is similar because we still must sanitize our hands to keep us safe. Also, the staff are still not messing around about Covid-19. If you were to tell a joke about Covid, “saying this kid has Covid” and it is a lie you would get in trouble. It is different than last year because we do not have to sanitize our hands as much. Then we get to have our masks off the entire day if you want and it is not like we have half of the school students at school and the other half at home. There are somethings that changed between 4th and 7th grade because during 5th grade we were almost done with the school year but then covid hit and we had to do online for the rest of the school year. Then in 6th grade at the beginning of the school year we were doing online for a long time, and it was not helping a lot because I really could not ask questions about the assignment we are doing and about the lesson.
• 
  2021-10-08

  Lone Star WIN Journal Assignment

  What is similar, different, and changed since 4th grade.
• 
  2021-10-08

  Covid-19 experience

  My name is Annabelle Leal, and I go to Lone Star middle school. I’m currently in 7th grade. I enjoy shopping and eating out with family. The start of the school year has been mostly normal. At this point everyone either has covid or has already had it. Numbers of positive covid tests were low in the summer but when school started the numbers quickly began to rise again. I wouldn’t be surprised if we had to go back into lock down by December. Last year I was doing online learning because of the virus, but I guess it's like this year because I could talk to people online, and most of my schoolwork is online. It's different from last year because I have been able to go back in person. I was completely isolated last year. No friends, no social life. A lot has changed from 4th to 7th grade. Like my personality, being home with my brothers and parents has helped me learn to be more patient with people. Another example would be that I'm in middle school now. I have opened up more to people because I have a lot of classes around a lot of them. Lastly, I wanted to say that using computers has become a big part of our education.
• 
  0021-10-08

  Lone Star Win Journal Assignment - Shetler

  This is a story about how my life was changed during the pandemic
• 
  2021-10-08

  Lone Star Covid Archive

  This text is important to me because it tells me how hard life was during the pandemic. Everything was just restricted and I was not able to do the things I wanted to do. I signed up for flag and it was my first ever time playing football but when Covid hit or submission got canceled. Looking back at this moment in time helps me think that life is better than it has seemed before.
• 
  2021-10-08

  Lone Star WIN Journal Assignment

  The story says what has been the same, different and has changed since 4th grade.
• 
  2021-10-08

  Lone Star WIN Journal Assignment

  Each week Lone Star students sign up for a WIN session. WIN stands for What I Need - these session are designed as interventions for missed material or to provide an extension opportunity in classes. The students who completed this assignment were selected by their social studies teacher to create a journal entry to submit to the archive. WIN sessions take place 4 times per week and are only 30 minutes in length. Because of these time restrictions journal entry lengths are a little short but kids were very excited to write their names in the history books!
• 
  2021-10-08

  Covid-19 WIN Journal Archive

  My name is Lainey Thatcher and I am 12 years old. I go to Lone Star Middle School and was asked to do this archive. For fun, I like to hang out with my friends, play volleyball and basketball, and go on adventures. I have been to almost to half of the U.S.A. and I am growing up in Idaho. My 7th grade year is definitely less stressful than the last 3 years. This year is hardly anything like last year, other than having laptops and using Teams, it has been easier and comforting than those other years. My 7th grade year is in person, where I can walk to my classes instead of going into another meeting. I remember back in 5th grade; we were in the 4th quarter of school. It was a Monday, and everyone was already going crazy about covid. That next day we were supposed to watch a disturbing video about puberty and other things. I went home that Monday, and my mom told my siblings and I that school was officially shut down. We were so happy, screaming around the house, basically having a party. Thinking it would be easier than going to school. But what we did not know was that we had to start doing things on our own. We had to take quizzes, do a ton of work, and go into meetings. I started to stress, so did my family. There was a lot of yelling. Anyway, I am happy I am back in school. Yes, I’m tired of getting up early in the morning and sitting at school all day. But I can talk when I need help instead of being muted. I don’t have as many technical problems as much. I can finally relax, hang with friends, do sports, etc. I have always believed that when everything goes wrong, if you just wait patiently through it, work hard, and just keep going, everything gets better. And it works, at least for me it does. When I split my head open when I was eight, I thought my life was over (I was very dramatic). But I waited patiently, worked through it, and just kept going and I was fine. I plan to also do it through this pandemic. That was most of my 3 years. Yes, there isn’t a lot. But I had more family problems than school problems. That’s my 3 years for you.
• 
  2021-10-05

  Child's Letter to Doug Ducey

  Twitter user @amybchan tweeted a photo of a letter that a 7-year-old student wrote to Governor Doug Ducey. She tells him that she and her sister both got COVID and asks him to make masks at school mandatory. Governor Ducey has not only refused to mandate masks at K-12 schools in Arizona but he has punished public school districts in the state that have chosen to require masks by withholding federal funding meant for COVID mitigation strategies. Parents, students, and educators have been outspoken about this policy and the federal government has weighed in over the mishandling of these COVID relief funds. My children are in a district that requires masks and have put in a grant application for those specific funds but have been told that it is "pending review" and has not released the money to the district. It is hurting districts who are actually trying to keep students and families safe and rewarding schools for not following proven mitigation strategies. At a time when children under 12 cannot get the vaccine this is especially troubling to many Arizona families.
• 
  2021-10-05

  PTA during Covid-19

  I have been volunteering in the PTA for the last 13 years. Two of these years occurred when I was the PTA president at my daughter's middle school during the Covid-19 pandemic. Once the pandemic started and Utah moved all schools to online in March 2020, PTA had to adjust. We cancelled all of our meetings and delivered the end-of-year teacher gifts to the teachers’ and staff’s homes. The next school year (2020-2021), the students returned to school but had to wear masks and large group activities were cancelled. PTA held our monthly meetings outside or via Zoom (once it became too cold to hold them outside) and we cancelled our assemblies. The school district required PTA to individually wrap treats/food that we provided for the teachers. Rather than the potluck-style lunches that we had always provided, we needed to cater the lunches which tripled our costs. We went from a budget of $700 for teacher lunches/treats/gifts to $2200. We made significant cuts in other areas in order to make this adjustment. The pictures above show treats for the teachers from 2021 that are individually wrapped and a partial list of teacher addresses and driving times when the PTA delivered presents to the homes of teachers and staff in 2020 because they were working from home. It took about eight volunteers, each with a 1 1/2 to 2 hour route, to get everything delivered.
• 
  2021-08-05

  Tucson Unified requires masks

  Arizona Governor Doug Ducey and the Arizona State Legislature have attempted to make it illegal for school districts to require face masks. Tucson Unified School District's school board voted for a mask mandate in defiance of this. Other Arizona districts followed, risking the withholding of COVID relief funds that the governor is refusing to disburse to any district with a mask mandate. A judge later ruled that the law was invalid and schools could have a mask mandate. As someone with children who are in school but are too young to receive a vaccine yet, I hope districts continue to require face masks for the safety of the students and staff. The Arizona Daily Star published a story about TUSD's decision. TEXT OF ARTICLE: Tucson Unified School District is requiring all staffers, students and visitors to wear masks at all its school sites when the school year begins on Thursday, Aug. 5. The TUSD decision defies a new state law that bans public schools from issuing mask mandates. “While Gov. (Doug) Ducey and the state Legislature has decided to ignore the advice of our public health experts and endanger our community, we can’t sit idle and watch COVID inevitably spread throughout our schools and devastate so many TUSD families,” said board member Ravi Grivois-Shah during an emergency Governing Board meeting Wednesday morning. “This is why I will support, along with my colleagues, a requirement to have masks on TUSD campuses and authorize TUSD to enforce this.” The board passed the measure 4-0. Board President Leila Counts was not present for the vote. Masking in schools is an important mitigation measure to slow the spread of COVID-19, and especially the new delta variant, health agencies at the county, state and federal level all say. This week, with Tucson classrooms back at capacity, as nearly 140,000 children across Pima County are returning to classrooms in person, indoor masking is one of the remaining virus mitigation measures schools have left. Social distancing is problematic at most school sites because of large class sizes, and there’s a state ban on a vaccine mandate. Further, a vaccine is unavailable to anyone younger than 12 years old. Between July 20 and Aug. 2, there were 102 virus cases in Pima County schools and 11 outbreaks, according to data from the Health Department. Those figures occurred when most schools here were not yet open. At the end of July, cases in schools accounted for about 8% of the Pima County’s total reported cases, compared to 4% of total cases during last school year — when masks were required. The county also has seen an increase in pediatric admissions and ER visits in children over the last two weeks of July. Vail Unified is the only Tucson school district that has been open for two weeks. Without a mask mandate, the district has 57 current COVID-19 cases in students and 12 in staff workers. The county Health Department has already temporarily closed three Vail classrooms and told staffers and students to quarantine. “Last year, schools had a number of tools that are no longer available,” said Vail Superintendent John Carruth. “They had the ability to do hybrid learning with smaller class sizes, require face coverings and close classrooms if needed. This year, Vail has two instructional options for families — fully in person and fully remote. With all of our teachers assigned to in-person or fully remote instruction, we are leaning on structures we built last year to support students when (the Health Department) requires them to quarantine.” And while some parents, especially those with children not old enough to be vaccinated, fear for their children’s safety in a packed classroom with unmasked people, other parents are staunchly against mask mandates, saying it is unnecessary and even harmful. In an informal survey by the Arizona Daily Star, with 180 participants two weeks ago when the COVID-19 numbers were lower, less than a third of respondents said masks should be optional, in line with the new state law. The other two-thirds said masks should be required or schools should at least have the option to require them. TUSD, with about 42,000 students, follows at least two other school districts in the state, the Phoenix Union High and Phoenix Elementary school districts, in defying the governor and state Legislature by requiring masks. A Phoenix Union teacher sued the district over the mandate, but a court hearing on the case that was set for Wednesday morning was postponed until next week. Science teacher Douglas Hester filed a lawsuit against the Phoenix Union school district’s board members and superintendent on Aug. 2, saying the mandate is illegal and can’t be enforced. A hearing on the case is set for Aug. 13. While most Tucson school districts are strongly recommending that students and staff wear masks indoors, most have also said they don’t intend on mandating masks, including Vail, Marana, Amphitheater, Sahuarita, Sunnyside and Tanque Verde. TUSD Board Member Adelita Grijalva said the mask mandate is necessary for the following reasons: More children are getting sick from the new COVID variant; new evidence has shown that fully vaccinated people may still be able to transmit the virus; the delta variant appears to be more contagious than chickenpox; and many students in the district are too young to be vaccinated. “Probably over 30% of our district cannot be vaccinated because of age,” she said. “I know my youngest can’t. I know many of our children cannot or their friends cannot, and so we have to do everything we can in the district to ensure their safety. That’s our No. 1 priority.”
• 
  2021-08-06

  Arizona Doctor Tweets Frustration After Child Exposed to COVID

  Dr. Christina Bergin shares a thread on Twitter after her child was exposed to COVID in the classroom. She provides a story about spending 18 months doing everything she could to not expose her family to COVID because of her work in a hospital, only to have her child exposed after three days of in-person learning at school. She addresses her tweets to Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, who (with the legislature) have attempted to prevent schools from instituting mask mandates and have threatened to withhold federal COVID relief funding that the state is supposed to disburse to Arizona school districts.
• 
  2020-08-01

  THE PANDEMIC

  The Pandemic change my life for better.
• 2020

  Finding Time

  Over the last five or so years, I've been dreaming about some event that would stir up some excitement in New York City, preferably some good event, but an event nonetheless. Never did I dream that it would actually come true, unfortunately in the form of a worldwide pandemic. Why couldn't it be something more fun, like aliens (although it seems like we might be getting there)? While the pandemic didn't bring anything exciting per se, it brought some change with it. When it began to be taken more seriously last year (2020), when all the shutdowns began to occur, I saw a major change in my day to day life. From being laid off of work, not being able to go to classes in-person anymore, and not being able to see any friends in person either, the normal, repetitive life that I had gotten so used to had disintegrated within just a couple weeks, if not shorter. It forced me to look at things in a different light, and as I was forced to be by myself for most of it, as we all were, I felt as if I needed to find some positivity and motivation in the few things I could do and had control over. I finally had time to focus on myself and made sure things like my physical/mental health and education were a priority. I took up cycling, as it was one way for me to be active and remain safe because it's not really something you need to do with others, and that opened the world up to me, especially with how empty the city was. Even my quiet pocket of Queens got quieter as barely anyone was outside, so while it did feel a bit post-apocalyptic out sometimes, it also gave me a sense of peace and freedom. Also, with having so much more time at home and not having to commute, I took advantage of online-learning to really give myself as much time as I needed, instead of the previous sense of rush and urgency I used to feel when it came to assignments, and actually turned my grades around pretty drastically. While the pandemic has been horrific on most fronts, by working my hardest to make the best of it, I've been able to better myself as it's given me time to enact real self-care. Something I've never taken the time to do before.
• 2020-03-20

  The blurry year

  I just started at Brooklyn College as a transfer student from Citytech. The semester was only like 5 weeks in when we started seeing reports of the Covid 19. Then the school closed for a day and we were told it only be for a short amount of time, we all know how that went. I haven't been on campus since that last day. There was so much unknown at the time with everything. How long we were going to be away from school, what was the deal with Covid 19, how dangerous was it, and how we were going to survive. At that point, everything closed, and the city was so quiet for the first time in my life. I came out a different person after the lockdown. It was a scary time for a lot of people. It felt like everyone was struggling with something. My biggest thing was just trying to make the best of the situation. and that's what I still do to this day.
• 2020-02-14

  COVID-19: From Italy To New York

  In February of 2020, from the 14th to the 22nd, I was on a school trip in Italy. It's safe to say I was having the best time of my life, until I became ill towards the end of the trip. I felt extremely lethargic and fatigued, my nose and throat were as stuffed as could be, my voice was gone, and my body was consistently hot. It wasn't until I got home from my trip that I suspected my illness was COVID-19, because I was informed that the exact day I returned home from Italy, Venice went on lockdown. I had been in Venice at the beginning of my trip. My suspicions heightened once my mother, father, and sister all got COVID-19 several days later, yet I was healthy as a horse again. In the weeks I had been quarantined with them, I hadn't gotten sick again. Now, this is my earliest memory from quarantine, and quite frankly one of the only memories since the days began to mesh together. I remember time no longer felt real, and I tried to pass it with as many activities as possible. The family began solving puzzles and playing more board games. I was playing more of my instruments, including piano and ukulele. I listened to countless albums and new artists. But, in all of the good, there still remained some low points such as overeating and inactiveness. I'm sure everybody can find pros and cons in their quarantine experience, definitely more cons for some. But, I just wanted to share what I remembered from my own experience. It's the story we always told people when they asked if we ever got infected; I'd say I'm pretty sure I came home from the best trip in the world only to infect my family and almost immediately go into lockdown.
• 2020-12-09

  Life in the Pandemic

  My life in the pandemic was tough. I couldn't work so I was not able to pay my bills, I like the rest of the world during lockdown had to sit at home bored out of my mind because nobody could leave. I was very scared for my mom when she got covid because she had oxygen issues and also heart issues. Going to school during the pandemic really bothered me because I lost a lot of focus and became very lazy when it came to handing in assignments. I would rather physically go onto campus because when I am actually listening to the professors' talk, it makes it so much easier to understand and to focus.
• 
  2021-09-24

  COVID-19 Archive Project

  Two students interview each other about the pandemic and how it affected their life.
• 
  2021-09-15

  COVID-19 Archive Project Interview

  [Curator's Note] Two persons interview each other about their experiences during the COVIS-19 pandemic. They both lived in different countries when the pandemic started, as one of them lives in Singapore and the other in India.
• 
  2021-09-17

  MA, AP and JK Oral History, 2021/09/17

  This is a casual interview about the effects of COVID on mental health, academics, family life, etc. We discuss the biggest impact COVID had on us, our experience with the pandemic, what we did over quarantine, and much more, from the perspective of college freshmen.
• 
  2021-09-21

  COVID-19 Archive Project, Interview 1

  Marc and Níccola talk about their personal experiences win COVID-19 and quarantine discussing family, mental health, and personal anecdotes.
• 2021-08-20

  A High School Class "Lost in Space"

  Lining the walls of my school’s athletic center are 113 shields containing the names of the members of the corresponding graduating class. Over this past summer (2021), the alumni association at my high school posted a photo from the Class of 2021 graduation presenting their shield with the caption included in this post. Out of 114 graduating classes, only one is missing from the wall, and that is my grade, the class of 2020. Like the “generation lost in space” referenced in Don McLean’s American Pie, the class of 2020 was the grade lost in space. I do not resent my school for the lack of an effort to ensure our class was included amongst the others. Yet as the wounds created by the pandemic were closing following a year in college, I returned home to find a deafening gap between the shields of 2019 and 2021 on the walls of my home of 13 years. For months, I felt the need to have in my back pocket a thesis to convince others that I had a right to feel disproportionately cheated by the pandemic. To my brother upset about his second year of college, to high school juniors, and to anyone else who dared to undermine my pain. “There are people dying, and you are complaining about your high school graduation?” Walking this hallway suggests that without a graduation ceremony, a high school class will not be documented in what is more or less an archive of the school. Ironically, it seems that perhaps this graduation was more important than anyone acknowledged.
• 
  2020-04-16

  The Diary of a Broken High School Senior

  I was a member of the class of 2020 at what I believe is the most incredible school imaginable. Perhaps after thirteen years I am far from unbiased, but the sense of community offered by my beautiful, 1,200 student Pre-K through 12th grade school is unmatched. Now, envision a girl who walked this campus with her childhood best friends, siblings, and cousins, and, rather frequently, her mother who made an effort to lead the Parents Association countless years. Overlay a history of homesickness and a global pandemic, and the product is March 2020 me when this blissful chapter of my life was abruptly ripped away, propelling me prematurely towards college at a school I had already decided could never fill the shoes of my high school. This tear stained entry was written on April 16th, when my state governor officially shut down all schools for the remainder of the school year. I had spent the last four weeks with a countdown on my iPhone tracking the days until I could return to school. The countdown had to be adjusted at one point when “coronacation” was extended from one to three weeks. Yet I remained the voice of naive optimism, unwilling to entertain the unfortunate reality that everyone around me had already accepted. This may seem dramatic and theatrical. But this same optimist in me hopes that, should anyone stumble upon my story, they will “respect what [they] cannot know” (Saidiya Hartman). There is much more to this story and my history than could ever be relayed to another person. But with the right lens, great value can be extracted from every story, no matter how many dried tears dot its pages. Hartman, Saidiya. "Venus in Two Acts." Small Axe, vol. 12 no. 2, 2008, p. 1-14. Project MUSE muse.jhu.edu/article/241115.
• 
  2021-09-14

  The Start to the School Year is Unlike Any Other

  I wrote an opinion piece for Idaho Education News last week after the latest school board meeting in Nampa, Idaho. Since March of 2020 educators have worked tirelessly to ensure that our students continue to receive a quality education. Initially, educators were seen as 'heroes' of the pandemic. However, over the last 9 months, the rhetoric surrounding schools and teachers has turned nasty. Yet, teachers continue to show up every single day and offer learning experiences to all children. At last week's board meeting, the discussion focused primarily on a mask mandate for our district as hospitals in our state began rationing care given the soaring number of Covid-19 cases. There was an even split between the trustees who were in favor of masking and the trustees who were against masking. This split did not come as a shock to me. However, the line of one trustee hit me in my gut, "I guess I go back to the mission statement. I'm here for the kids, so I'm not going to worry about the adults." The mission and vision statement the trustee is referencing states that teachers offer "exceptional learning experiences" for every child. Given the largely unvaccinated population of our community, the high numbers of teachers out sick, and the alarming number of students out sick as mask mandate seemed like a simple request. However, the board did not vote in favor of helping teachers ensure we are able to provide 'exceptional learning experiences.' Are masks the only answer? Not necessarily. Last year, students attended school 4 days per week while the 5th day was reserved for students to connect with students who were in quarantine/sick and unable to attend school. This year, all of those requirements are gone. That being said, students and teachers attend school 5 days per week and there is no time allotted for teachers to connect with students who are quarantined or sick. Given the latest numbers, about 25% of our entire district is out sick. That is 25% of students who do not have access to their teachers. The article was published on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, and Idaho Ed News shared it on their Facebook page as well. Shortly after 7 pm MST the post has over 160 comments (mostly in favor of teachers), 250 reactions, and over 50 shares. In addition, I have received numerous private messages and emails from other teachers who thank me for giving them a voice during this 'unprecedented' time. While I am still a fairly new teacher with only 3 years of experience, there are veteran teachers who are being pushed to the brink. Many would like to think this is an Idaho problem but the reality is that teachers across the country are feeling unsupported and unappreciated by the communities they serve. I am fearful this will be my last year teaching - I LOVE my job. I remain hopeful that this year turns out to be something amazing.
• 
  2020-03-20

  School Closings

  Most people thought that we were getting an extra two weeks off of school and that this covid "thing" would blow over. Everyone thought this was short term and nobody expected to not be in schools for a year and a half and have their lives rearranged.
• 
  2021-09-04

  hermit HERALD, ISSUE 127

  Taliban need outside help
• 2021-08-28

  A year and a half (and counting) in my room

  Before hell happened I had never exactly been much for being outside, I live in Texas what do you expect? I spent most of my days inside and only ever went out for 1.5 social events a week and weekly classes. Then things started to go bad. Suddenly I had no reason to ever go outside, suddenly I was alone in my room, surrounded by mess and with only the light from my lamp and monitors. I actually started to take more walks because of the pandemic, I just had to get outside, I had to move at all, I had to do something. The human brain is not well equipped for quite this level of repetition, day in day our in the same environment doing the same thing, checking the same few websites to see how bad things have gotten for those still brave enough stupid enough or desperate enough to be out in the world, to see the hell that the world became when everything changed. It is an experience that does not do well for motivation or mental health. I stopped really caring about school, I spent most of my days thoughtlessly doing the same thing and thinking, always fucking thinking about the state of the world and my own life and my own meaningless existence and I just couldn't... I couldn't stop thinking, thinking that my life had no meaning and I was worthless to all those around me and I was alone. Apparently, the human brain is not equipped for quite this level of repetition. It's quite a wonder I'm even stable now, considering the things I went through over this hellish year and a half, but here I am an, my life means nothing and I'm fine with that because life is beautiful, even if people are irresponsible and hateful it isn't their fault, it's the fault of the very people who let this get out of hand in the first place. I was able to finally see that, and I kept realizing it over and over and over and over again, and I'm still realizing it today. The real point is that we are not separated by race or religion or sexuality or gender identity or anything like that, we are all just people, and we need to help each other. The human brain is not well equipped for quite this level of repetition but that's only if we're alone.
• 
  2021-08-26T14:54

  The not so boring every day life

  I used to work at a store called Bed Bath & Beyond. It was a mediocre job at best. Getting up at 9am and working until 5pm. The occasional customer who’d come in every now and then and brighten my day was nice, but there has to be a balance. The occasional customer who would come in with the sole purpose to ruin your day. Pre December 31st, 2019. After work I would come home and play some video games, do homework, and if I had time go to the skatepark late at night. When I wasn’t at work, I was at school. I went to Palmetto Ridge High School, and it was my junior year. I was looking forwards to just graduating already. It was fun, I met a lot of friends, but it was just getting tedious, going to the same classes over and over again, just to meet the state requirements. I couldn’t wait to go to college, to pursue only the classes I needed for my future career. Life was pretty much mundane, no action, repetitive. December 31st, 2019. I had just awoken from my sleep and was getting ready to go into school, since it was a Tuesday. I turned on my TV and switched to the news channel to see if anything interesting was happening on the news, and to my surprise, this “virus” was said to have started in Wuhan China. Our “wonderful” president said it was nothing more than the common flu, so I shrugged it off and got ready for school. A couple of days had passed since the announcement of COVID-19 and things only escalated. I still thought it was nothing more than a virus, because at the time I followed Trump, (still don’t know why I ever did). That was until a customer came in, coughing their lungs out. I made sure not to check her out because she looked really, really ill. I stayed in the back most of the day, claiming that “Today was just not my day, I am tired, and I do not feel well”. I asked to leave work early that day and left. January 21st, 2020. By now I was seriously worried. I heard over the news that COVID-19 was spreading fast, and that it had just infected its first citizen in the U.S. I did not know what to do to counter it, so I treated it like a plague. I wore a medical mask everywhere I went, and double layered my hands with two latex gloves. My coworkers teased me, saying I was too worried and that it would pass. I almost wanted to listen to them, but I stuck to my guns and wore my protective gear in work. March 14th, 2020. Schools were now closed until April 14th. Things were starting to get serious, now my friends weren’t doubting my use of masks and gloves and they followed in my footsteps. There was no school now, which meant I had to work more hours. It was really weird not going to class, but I was kind of glad we weren’t. I was just happy to still be earning money. March 15th, 2020. I was supposed to work today, it was a Sunday, but seeing as my job was overstaffed that day, I called off saying that I was sick. (I really wasn’t). I wanted to go to the skatepark today with my friends and did not want to work overnight today. I am glad now that I skipped because a customer that had COVID-19 was not wearing a mask and had infected two co-workers. This had forced the building to shut down, and had the CDC close the building down to quarantine it. I really dodged a bullet. August 26th, 2021. (Present Day) A lot has changed over these past few years. Mainly lockdowns and mask mandates. I have been fully vaccinated with Moderna and am going to take my booster shot when the time comes. Oddly enough after the first major lockdown, nature started to come back. A lot of deer in the roads, alligators in swimming pools, and a ton of insects and amphibians. It is present day now, and we have a new variant of COVID-19, named the Delta Variant. Mask wearing was mandated, and then unmandated, and since Trump left office cases dropped with real facts on COVID-19 daily, none of this “fake news” as Trump used to say. COVID-19 is starting to die down a lot more now, but it still is not over. Hopefully people will use their brains and get vaccinated, and if they don’t, hopefully they use masks.
• 
  2021-08-15

  Vaccine Passport

  The Instagram page nochill_latinos share a meme directed at those who are making a big deal that vaccine cards are being required at schools and places of work.