Items

• 
  2020-08-11

  Virtual Learning in California

  The American response to the global COVID-19 Pandemic was multi-faceted. However, of specific importance to the nation were the changes made to public education. As the Pandemic resulted in the closure of businesses, teachers and students were required to continue their educational programs online from the privacy of their homes. Although the effects of distance learning will continue to be seen, virtual learning severely limited the ability of students and teachers to use sensory perception as a tool for learning and instruction. First, distance learning no longer enabled American teachers to utilize the sensory perception of “proximity.” Throughout public education “proximity” is used to encourage student engagement with both instruction and content. Many teachers will walk their classrooms during student activities and use sensory perception to sensorially inform students that they are near to them and are assessing their engagement. Teachers use this strategy as a reinforcement tool to develop students’ ability to stay on task. Yet, during the COVID-19 Pandemic, social distancing policies made “proximity” not only impossible, but also illegal, limiting to what extent teachers could use sensory perception to foster engagement and learning. Second, not only were educators no longer allowed to use the sensory perception tool of physical proximity, but also many educators were forced to rely solely on the sensory perception of sound. School districts throughout the state of California, for example, did not permit educators to require their students to verify their attendance in live video format. The result was educators and students were engaging predominantly through speaking and listening. Furthermore, being denied the sensory perception of sight, educators could not assess to what extent students were engaging with instruction and activities. In conclusion, the COVID-19 Pandemic enacted emergency response strategies which directly affected the education of Generation Z. For both students and educators, sensory perception became more limited for every student. Yet, the sciences, including social science, are built upon the empirical information a human being receives through them. Perhaps this video will serve as evidence to answer the question, “To what extent were students denied the right to sensory information and science?”
• 
  2020-03-12

  Little Did We Know

  This is a Tik Tok video from my sister’s account of her documenting the day we were sent home from school. In the video, she’s telling her viewers that school has been cancelled for three weeks, due to the rise in COVID-19 cases across the globe. This video says a lot about the pandemic, because personally I felt that the closing of schools and businesses for the sake of quarantine was a really defining moment of the pandemic. There haven’t been many moments/ pandemics in history that have provoked the closing of institutions, so the fact that this happened says a lot about the magnitude of the situation. This personal account also says a lot about the pandemic, because similarly to my sister in the video, at the beginning of COVID-19 many people were scared and unaware of how long this pandemic would ensue. I feel this video captures her reaction very well.
• 
  2022-06-27

  American Samoa's Children Vaccination

  With schools opening back up in American Samoa, children are required to get vaccinated. As the Department of Health points out that children will not be accepted into school if their vaccinations are not updated. The Department of Health has put out this flyer on June 26, 2012, for the public especially working parents to get their children's vaccination after hours from 4-7 pm on June 27 - July 1.
• 
  2022-06-16

  Teenager Covid experience

  Wanted to share how pandemic effected myself and my family
• 
  2020-04-25

  Cannot Hear You Anymore

  The ability to hear, the ability to speak, the ability to process what has been said and respond. All of these changed for me in my classroom because of COVID. First the students went totally away, silence, and not the comforting restorative kind, but the absence of those that have become part of me. Suddenly gone silent. After some time they return but not near enough. Talking and hearing through masks obscures and diffuses the words. Can you please repeat that, repeated over and over again. Words cannot get through the first time. Or the second. Frustration sets in and lingers even now. Lack of hearing becomes a lack of understanding and lack of empathy. Habits of caring and concern atrophy. I have endless patience with my students, less so for the rest of my fellow man. The man that refuses to wear a mask across the aisle on a flight home, telling me to shut up when I request that he cover his face. Maybe he can hear, but just refuses to. The relative that isn't vaccinated but still wants to come to the funeral and risk others. They cannot hear my wisdom, though they might tell you that I cannot hear theirs. The masks come off but still the hearing does not return. The classroom starts to normalize, but the rest of the world does not.
• 2020-05-03

  Belly Buttons & Makeba

  Most people probably don’t think of belly buttons when they think of a pandemic. They likely also don’t think of the South African Activist Miriam Makeba. However, when I consider the earliest days of covid, those days before I realized I would be teaching online for an extended time, or that my Varsity Lacrosse players whom I had coached through their careers would never step on a field for our 2020 season, my life was all about belly buttons and a song called Makeba by a French Singer-Songwriter. In April of 2020, schools in Michigan closed, sending me home with every other educator to figure out online teaching. Also at this time, my daughter, Edie, was just over one year old. She was very fond of her “Beluh-but’n” (bellybutton) and ran around the house proudly showing hers off, thinking she was hilarious. To her credit, it was hilarious, and also adorable. She had recently heard the song Makeba by Jain on a BMX video featuring my husband from when he used to ride professionally, and it became her anthem. Even at three years old, she still requests Makeba in the car, though today it is second to David Bowie or Vampire Weekend these days. She would dance to it on repeat, her little feet on her ABC play mat making a sticky pitter-patter, her arms swinging wildly, and her diapered baby butt dropping low like she was in a nightclub. She was, and still is, one of the funniest little humans I have encountered. The attached sound clips are recorded from a video of Edie, my daughter, strumming my guitar on its stand, while singing her version of Makeba. These videos are some of my favorites, her head bobbing and bum wiggling with her music. These are the sounds that filled my house and my heart throughout those first weeks of quarantine, and they still bring me nothing but immense joy and thankfulness. Covid for me meant more time at home with her. I was there when she woke up, we spent much of our days outside in the warming spring weather, and I nursed her and tucked her in for naps and at bedtime. We were lucky, we did not face financial crisis or unemployment, nor did we or our loved ones fall seriously ill. The result was time at home together as a family. While the restrictions and isolations of covid did mount over time, and stress of restrictions were certainly felt during my second pregnancy for my baby boy born in May of 2021, by and large, our lives just kept moving. We adjusted, we kept a small circle of trusted friends and family, and we were cautious. But when it came down to it, covid to me will always be marked by extra time with my daughter, time that I would not have had if the pandemic did not change everything about our lives. I wouldn’t trade the extra moments of her laughter, dancing, snuggles, or silliness for the world.
• 
  2022-05-20

  Online School Problems

  Having such a difficult school year before the pandemic hit, I initially couldn’t be more excited for this break from those all nighters. After getting the opportunity to recharge for a few weeks, finishing the school year was relatively easy. Summer flew by, and I soon realized that my entire junior year would be online as well. I quickly found the homogeneity to be unavoidable; I could sleep and attend school without moving more than a few feet. Each day was the same, a mechanical routine of jumping from Zoom meeting to Zoom meeting. Countless students would log into these meetings for roll call, and simply tilt the camera at the ceiling fan as they went out with friends or took a nap. It was easy to think this situation was just an obstacle to get past, another building block for the vision I had put in place for the years after high school. For me, this vision was about college, building knowledge towards my future career, and compiling a worthy resume. However, there was no reason I couldn't give value to this time period, to give meaning to each day such that they didn’t all blend together. From the daily differences in curriculum to the unique interactions of each period, I found these minute contrasts to be more significant. Realizing the importance of being mindful, even when little to no dynamic quality existed, allowed me to continue furthering my studies and interests. Looking back now, during a time when I have gotten accepted to one of the best schools I could’ve ever asked for, I think about how difficult that year and a half was for me, and how much harder the situation was for many other individuals. Again, the biggest lesson I learned was the importance of mindfulness. Whether it be a triumph or a tragedy, these life events should not be skimmed over like a mountain or trough to pass through. They are all lessons in some form, pieces of knowledge that should be taken with thought.
• 
  2020-05-26

  Reyes_Gia_

  C19OH
• 
  2021-04-15

  COVID-19 Changed Education in America

  The pandemic has completely changed education. Students' views and attitudes towards school has changed, as well as been impacted by trauma and lack of normal school routine. School districts and teachers have been scrambling to accommodate to the new change while also trying to maintain a feeling of being "normal" during a pandemic.
• 2020-07-08

  Motherless Immigrante Through Covid-19

  Before the covid-19 pandemic, I immigrated with my father to the U.S. after my mom's death. It was a fresh beginning, I was living like in a dream, exploring, and being mesmerized by how beautiful and advanced LA is. However, one day everything changed and a lockdown that was supposed to last for 2 weeks, ended up lasting more than a year. At first, it was fun. I was looking at the positive side, doing times I haven't done in a while, watching movies and shows with my dad was incredible fun. However, with time my dad started to worry because he lost his job and did not receive any type of help. He eventually find a job for the summer, but I had too much time by myself that everything I could do was miss my mom. There were days that I didn't see my dad for the entire day because he needed two jobs to be able to pay our expenses and his dad's expenses outside the country. I started to get depressed. School started again but my cheerful character and interest in school never came back. Now, I feel like I am in airplane mode all the time.
• 2022-05-04

  Covid-19 Experience (school)

  The impact on covid-19 brought upon an experience, an experience of both good and bad. I shall talk about my experience on Covid-19 more specifically on how it has affected me in terms of school. I was half way through my junior year when I got the news of how we would all be quarantined and won’t have school for three weeks. I was relieved, 3 weeks off from school who wouldn’t like that. The school district during that time (and all schools around the country) decided that we must continue with school, but online. Thus we stayed online for school for over a year. Through zoom, it was very beneficial because I had more free time, but sometimes being online distracted me and so it was very difficult to pay attention. During zoom I also did not like being in my house all day as it would be very tiresome and boring. There would be days or sometimes weeks where I wouldn’t leave the house at all. However, school during the pandemic allowed for such things as having hybrid classes which can present as a new school system, especially in college it could make managing students time more easier and efficient. Overall, my experience through online school during covid-19 brought upon a new change and experience that altered my perspective of school.
• 2022-04-29

  It's The Little Things

  The pandemic was full of many things that turned the world upside down: the loss of jobs, death, and the decline in mental health for many students. I remember when the semester was transferred to fully online, many students like myself celebrated for the extended Spring Break and the ability to attend Zoom classes in pajamas. However, months passed and the daily lack of contact with acquaintances and friends, isolation, and lack of activities turned the days quite mundane quickly. The drastic change in an active lifestyle to such a slow paced one definitely had a negative impact on conditions such as depressive symptoms, health anxiety, and an overall learning curve of the lifestyle. Digging deeper, I know many families whose breadwinner of the family lost their job because many places were letting their staff go due to the lack of demand of labor. When dealing with a global pandemic, death was also a central topic to deal with. Many countries did not have access to medical equipment such as ventilators and thousands of people were dying in my motherland. I personally lost some family members and many people I know have as well. While the pandemic introduced our lives to a dark state, there was a slight silver lining, and that was spending time with the loved ones. Over the years before the pandemic, I feel like the world moved at an unbearably fast pace. My days consisted of going to class and work, possibly spending some time with friends, doing homework, and sleeping for the most part. As the world started to slow down because of the COVID pandemic, my father was finally able to work from home, my sister had online classes, and my mother didn’t have to rush to pick my sister up from school. Often, our meals during dinner would be inconsistent and spent near the TV as everyone had their own schedules. However, when the pandemic hit, it was advised to not eat at restaurants and take out fast food. Such restrictions led to trying out new recipes and laughing in the kitchen. Little moments such as conversations at the dinner table are still some of my favorite memories. In addition to cherished time with my family, I was able to finally rediscovered some hobbies that I used to enjoy years ago. Before the pandemic, my life had begun to revolve only around academics and I had forgotten what it felt like to spend the evening painting or trying out a new dance. However, spending months at a time at home forced me to redirect myself to other forms of entertainment when there was no use of travelling to other places. This really helped me define myself as someone who has so many other interests rather than just a student who studied 24/7. I still try to carry these hobbies into my schedule now that the world is slowly coming back to its fast pace.
• 
  2022-04-29

  2 Years in a Pandemic

  This is my personal experience living in the time of the COVID-19 Pandemic
• 
  2020-11

  Group Homes and the Pandemic

  To understand my story, I will give some context as to the nature of my work. I worked at a group home made for 14–17-year-olds unaccompanied minors coming from Central America. When they entered the program, they are put into one of the many houses that we currently have and given a room, education, structure, all the things that make for a normal life. These many houses would interact with each other quite frequently, many times, the best friends of one house were in a different house. Many of the kids were in soccer and other sports, they would go to church, and different places in town on a regular basis. Once the lockdowns began, our program proceeded in a similar fashion to prevent anyone from getting infected. One of those things included stopping the normal interacting between the houses and confine everyone to their own homes. Besides the obvious social loss, school provided them with access to English almost the entire day; to make friends here, they would learn on their own, to meet a boyfriend or girlfriend, they would work at it every single day. You can’t measure what the pandemic took away from these kids. Each one of them is no doubt less fluent in English unless they had actively worked at it, they missed out on getting to know the culture and embracing it for their future, so many things that we can not measure, but without a doubt were lost. For some though, the pandemic turned into a very good time for learning and becoming better than they were before. Hours would pass very slowly in the house, and you can only watch and play video games so long before getting bored, so one youth found something that they were very good at. This youth would spend his time crafting all sorts of different things. Eventually, his walls were filled with rosaries, charms, bracelets, animals made of beads, and all sorts of other random crafts I could not name. He had a zest for life even during the pandemic and worked hard to keep learning more and more. The necklace in the picture is one that he had made for me that I hang on my shrine at home. He was a very religious, and it was that religion that helped him get from his home country and make it to the United States. This is a common story for many of the youths in my program, they take religion seriously and try to continue the traditions they had in their home countries. They could not go to Church during most of the lockdown and found other ways to express their religiosity, this is how the youth in my story expressed his.
• 
  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
• 
  2020-07-09

  Back to School

  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!
• 
  2022-02-06

  Graduation in 2020

  After everything closed down in March of 2020, I thought for sure that I would not step foot in my high school ever again. I finished out the rest if my classes online, and decided that I would be going to Duquesne University starting in the fall. I was a little upset on how my high school days ended, but I accepted the fact that there was nothing I could do about it, and that that was just the way it went. As the summer came I began to think less and less about my high school. Until one day I check my school email and got a message from my form dean. She said that the school wanted to have an in person graduation for us just like all the other classes before us. I was pretty surprised to hear this because I know other schools in my area were not going to do this and just told the graduating seniors "Sorry, but there is nothing we can do". The school set the date for graduation in July, and said we all had to be spaced out and wear masks for the whole time. I didn't think much of this email after I first read it. I thought it was a nice gesture but it wasn't really going to happen. But as the date came closer and closer, I realized it actually was going to happen. Honestly, I wasn't too excited about having to go to my graduation. I was contempt with how my high school career ended and was ready to move on. I wasn't the type of person that was so in love with my school. I still was in contact with my friends so I didn't really see a need to go sit through a two hour long graduation outside in the July summer heat. But I thought about my mom and how she would like to go see it and how much it would mean to her. So I decided to go, even though I really did not have much choice. After the graduation was over, my opinions about it changed. I was really happy that we got to have a graduation and I realize what a kind gesture that was for my high school to put one together for us.
• 
  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.
• 
  2021-12-20

  How Covid Affected me

  Due to the unexpected virus “Covid”, my life has been impacted in many various ways. My life has changed in many different perspectives both good and bad. My life feels pretty good at the moment however it's a little bit stressful. It's been very hard to do online schooling rather than going in person. The homework didn't seem as mandatory as it does when you go to school. However I can say I'm getting used to and trying my best to do the best I can. I can say that this virus has made me experience a new perspective on life. It has taught me that it's very important to appreciate the smallest moments and not take anything for granted. As well, it had an impact on my social life because I'm not able to go out with my friends like I used to. I haven't traveled either because it's very easy to become infected with this virus. Everything has been going back to normal slowly, but I'm adapting to all the new regulations that are rising.
• 
  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.