Items
Subject is exactly
Education--K12
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2020-05-06
Graduating Without the Pomp: Students, parents push back against virtual and drive-through graduation ceremonies
My oldest daughter is now a senior in high school, and she is still pretty upset that she didn’t get to have a junior prom. She understands that in the context of everything happening in the world, it’s not the most important or most tragic thing that could happen, but it still stings. For many students, it’s the milestones like prom and graduation that make the whole four years worthwhile. If the milestones that high school students look forward to can’t be held, it can affect them deeply. As schools closed and Covid-19 became a fixture in our everyday lives, school events like sports, proms, and graduations went away. Some schools held virtual graduations featuring videos and speeches over Zoom. Others attempted to maintain an atmosphere of celebration by holding drive-up graduations with decorated cars and parking lots. However, many students and parents were upset by this change. While this is understandable, most school districts prioritized the health and safety of students, families, and staff over having an in-person ceremony. This article helps to capture some of the frustrations seniors expressed in 2020 when their hopes of walking the stage and receiving their diploma seemed to vanish overnight. -
2022-01-11
Arizona teacher shortage getting worse with COVID-19
Arizona teachers have struggled with obtaining higher pay and better funding for years. Add to that a legislative body that doesn’t prioritize educational funding, improving teaching conditions or student learning. When Covid-19 reared its ugly head, the pressure public school teachers normally deal with in overcrowded, undersupplied classrooms intensified and – for many overworked teachers – this was the last straw. Teachers who were in a position to took early retirement. Others simply left the profession for the private sector. Still, some remained and adapted to whatever model of learning their school district employed – sometimes on a week-to-week basis. Now that most schools have returned to an in-person modality, teachers are still leaving the classroom. This article sheds lights on the teacher shortage and how, even still, Arizona educators are contending with Covid-19 in their classrooms and families, leading them to reconsider their decision to stay in education. -
2022-03-24
Covid-19 Cuts Senior Year Short
As a 2020 senior, I went on Spring Break and never came back to the high school that I thought I would enjoy for 2 more months. I cried at the fact that I wouldn’t get to experience my “lasts” of high school; no senior trip, no senior field day, no senior prank, and no graduation. I felt like my senior year had been ripped away from me in a matter of seconds, and I felt that I had worked hard in school for nothing. I questioned if I would ever get to go to college or travel again. Covid-19 turned my happy senior year into a nightmare. I remember feeling so discouraged and depressed; even my town’s streets were completely empty. It was a time of utter darkness that I never want to live through again. The unknown scares me, and Covid-19 sent my fear into full force. -
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. -
2021-07-15
High School COVID-19 Expectations and Procedures
The document is the "COVID-19 Parent/Guardian Expectations" section of a school handbook for the 2021-2022 school year. For this school district, the 2021-2022 school year is the first year since the pandemic started that would be entirely in-person. Due to this, school staff, parent/guardians, and students were expected to comply with essential health and safety standards. The handbook covers when students should be kept home from school, how to report symptoms of COVID-19 or a positive test, bus protocols, sanitation policies followed by teachers and school staff, mask expectations, cafeteria and food procedures, accommodations for social distancing, requirements of school volunteers, and athletics. This document shows how schools worked to create policies and procedures in order to keep students in school in-person. These procedures were created in anticipation of the first school year that would be completely in-person, since the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years were partially online. -
2020-05-20
Drive-Thru Graduation at a Phoenix High School
The photos are from the Drive-Thru Graduation Ceremony at Bostrom High School in Phoenix, Arizona. To have a graduation ceremony for the 2020 graduates, the high school put on a socially-distant commencement where parents and families could show their support from their cars. These images show the creative lengths that school staff, district staff, and parents went to give 2020 graduates a celebration that they deserve. In 2020, all people made some level of sacrifice, and the photos are an example of how communities worked together so that students did not have to lose another milestone in their lives. -
2020-06-25
DVUSD Letter to Parents Announcing 2020 Graduation
On May 1st, Dr. Curtis Finch, the Superintendent of Deer Valley Unified School District (one of the largest districts in Arizona), sent a letter as part of a daily update during the end of the 2019-2020 school year. Due to laws and regulations, there were many people unsure about whether the Class of 2020 would have a graduation ceremony. In this letter, Dr. Finch announced that an in-person ceremony would be held during the summer (July 2-3) due to a survey where the majority of parents indicated that they wanted an in-person ceremony. He stated a specific time for each high school and explained that additional information would be given each week, due to needing to plan exactly how the ceremony will work depending on guidance at the time. On June 25th, the graduation was canceled. This item shows the work and resilience that went into trying to give students and their families the milestones that they were hoping to experience. Many people, businesses, schools, and other organizations worked to find ways to safely host events. While some worked, this is an example of a plan that did not go through. -
2020-06-25
DVUSD Letter to Parents Regarding 2020 Graduation
This letter is written by Dr. Curtis Finch, the Superintendent of Deer Valley Unified School District, one of the largest school districts in Arizona. The letter is addressed to the 2020 class of DVUSD high school graduates and their parents. Dr. Finch explains that graduation (which had already been postponed by a month) would need to be canceled due to new laws and policies. The letter ends with an encouraging note. This letter says multiple things about the pandemic. First, many people believed the situation would get better. This is shown by attempting to delay graduation by one month when in reality, the increasing cases due to the pandemic would continue much longer. Another message shown by the letter is that school staff, parents, and graduates were working to attempt to save milestones such as graduation in multiple different ways, but were not able to. -
2022-03-20
Covid 19 as a senior
When Covid first started, I never imagined it becoming, as serious or being as long as it was. I was a senior in high school, and on March 13, 2020 I never thought that would be my last day of high school. All I wanted was to participate in all the fun activities, but that never happened as life never really went back to normal. -
2020-09-08
Remote Learning
This was my son on his first days of remote learning in Kindergarten. He was a great trooper and worked hard to have the sense of being in school. Some days were more difficult than others, but overall we made it through and we continue to prosper through this pandemic. -
2022-01-16
Still On Spring Break?
As a teacher and a parent, navigating the tricky educational waters after COVID-19 in 2020 has proven challenging. Many of my teacher friends left the profession due to unsafe working conditions and the emotional distress resulting from unsupportive school districts, irrational demands from parents, and severe behavioral issues exhibited by students coping in their own ways. In March 2020, we went on Spring Break, and some of us never came back, some literally and others emotionally. Teachers that are still teaching – whether online or in person – are now contending with the aftermath of school closures and the intense pressure put on them to return despite concerns about safety. Teacher burnout has hit hard, and there are even some days I have to remind myself why I became a teacher. I know students are dealing with their own transition back into some kind of normalcy. My own daughters exhibit an anxiety that’s hard to miss – and something I can relate to, and I’m devastated that they missed out on junior prom and an in-person 8th grade graduation. The little milestones and memory-makers that they’ll one day look back on as adults have been replaced by a year of quarantine, Zoom classes, and missing their friends. Many of my students have also expressed sadness and frustrating having missed some of the hallmarks of “the high school experience”. Likewise, teachers missed milestones and cultivating relationships with their students. There’s still a lot of ground to make up on both sides. -
2022-03-16
School Shootings, I don't miss them.
This is a ParentSquare message from the superintendent from the school district that I work at. A student from the Online school that our district provides as an alternative for students because of COVID-19 decided it was a good idea to shoot at fellow students. This is particularly frustrating for me as a school employee because this student put other students in danger and ended the life of at least one student. Actions like this also put the school employees or outside civilians in danger if they get caught in the crossfire. Gang activity has become an issue in this town and I fear there will be more retaliation and the cycle of violence will continue. This will likely interrupt the student's education even more because of fear or fascination, probably just as much as COVID has. It has become increasingly difficult to engage some students with their students because they are behind maturity-wise after a year of being online due to COVID and this school shooting is not helpful. -
2022-03-11
The Hanover County School Board, in partnering with an anti-LGBTQ outfit, has declared war on its transgender students.
This news article is from the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Richmond, Virginia. The article contains a recent review of the Hanover Country School Board seeking legal advice from a well-known hate group that disguises themselves as "Christian conservative legal group" also known as the Alliance Defending Freedom. Back in December of 2021, the ACLU of Virginia filed against Hanover County for discriminatory policies against transgender students. The pandemic has bought out numerous laws against the safety of LGBTQ students and individuals. This is just a small example of what queer children have been facing since the start of the pandemic. -
2020-09-01
Seattle's 2020 summer, school, and kids
At the end of 2020, I was completing my student teaching online for my BA in Secondary Education. I was placed in a school in Seattle. Student teaching during this time is something that was incredibly difficult. Looking at faces through blurry webcams, and seeing the black tiles in zoom from students who wouldn't or couldn't turn on cameras. I will never know what a lot of the students looked like, or what their voices sounded like, but getting to read their work, and see their messages in emails and chats is something that I will always remember and will always hold a place in my heart. The 12-14-year-olds I was teaching had just been the last 3 1/2 months watching the BLM protests and marches in their city take place. A few students told us that they lived just streets away from the main events. Some students had been active in the BLM marches and protests that had taken place during the summer before, some stayed at home and watched on social media live streams and the news, some had parents who were heavily involved. They watched their friends, their family, their community, and strangers get tear-gassed, hit with "blast balls", and be subject to other physical violence. The levels at which they understood the what and why varied. Some had such an amazing level of nuance that some adults I knew couldn't comprehend. Others had an extremely base understanding of why people were protesting and marching. But all understood that it was a monumental event and would be something remembered in history. These children were scared, concerned, confused for a variety of reasons. Yet, overwhelmingly there was a sense of urgency for justice from these kids. My lead teacher and I knew that we had to pivot lessons in order to keep them engaged and meet their needs. Focusing on how the concepts they needed to learn could be applied to material that would interest them, and using homeroom activities to try to calm nerves, create a sense of community and answer questions about everything from Covid, to the protests, to the current election. They wanted to write and read about what was important to them, what they saw around them, and they wanted to read about different perspectives and lives from their own. We honored that. For the final writing assignment of the semester, we gave them some guidelines and standards that needed to be met within their writing, but gave them some freedom on how they wanted to meet those standards. I won't get into the specifics of the assignment, but I will say it worked well and was adapted to best serve students at all levels, and those with IEP/504 plans. We were met with everything from songs and poetry, letters to the mayor and the governor, essays about our anchor text, to reports about youth activists that they researched. I don't think the impact of the events of summer 2020 in Seattle on children is thought about. The events that a child experiences and is around affects them for the rest of their lives. Most don't have the skills yet to emotionally process fully what they see. Their thinking didn't stop when the marches and protests did, they wanted to learn and talk about it in order to process. The compounding factors of the summer and prior to that Seattle was essentially ground zero for Covid in the U.S. left most kids spinning. School became a safe place for a lot of these kids, and I hope that it has continued to be one. -
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. -
2020-09-09
The Four Walls of Insanity
The day my life completely changed, QUARATINE had been announced in my district. What had begun as a light conversation with no expected impact on us later came to crumble our walls of reality and how vulnerable we really are. We live in a time of the future a virus wasn't expected to take so many of us out the thought that we've evolved beyond this point was false. We were unprepared for anything that was to come. I never got to enjoy my senior year complete my senior year, a year I'll never get back. I had begun with so much excitement it was my senior year in cross country I gratefully got to finish my season with all my teammates and some of my best friends from high school. However that would later come crashing down as I was getting excited for prom season shopping for a new dress and planning the night out with friends we were sent on a "2 week spring break" I never got back. Classes continued online, I no longer was able to do my daily routine of going to school then practice with friends. From now on any interaction was via Zoom or FaceTime we longed for reconnection. I'm someone who thrives off interacting with my friends especially pre quarantine the lack of interactions was draining me. I had to find a new way to cope which as you can see led to many hair color changes within a couple months. The four walls I would be so excited to come to after a long practice now became a prison cell. I would't change the way I chose to quarantine because I saw the negative affects of socializing with sadly one of my neighbors passing during that height of pandemic. However we are all only human and selfishness is part of who we are and I think it's fair to say my mental health took a large toll during the couple months that felt like years. Once my family as well as others became more lenient I was a able to hangout in small groups of people but never large and still fear it a little over 2 years later. I don't believe I have fully recovered from the situation this time period put us through. The isolation did allow me to discover new interests and how to spend time with myself which can be difficult, as well as an appreciation for long walks on your own. However it was a confusing time and one that only brought about more anxiety and fear with someone who deals with this struggles on the daily. -
2020-06-27
Graduation
This picture, it is showing me having my high school graduation in a parking lot. All having to stand 6 feet apart, outside and listen to our names being read off through the speaker of our cars. Not your typical graduation from high school and I'll never get to go back and have one because of covid. -
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" -
2022-02-07T10:00:00
Taking Covid-19 Step by Step
My story describes the cycle of emotions I went through during the past two years of the pandemic. I try to make sense of the situation, especially with high school, and find some negative and positive outcomes from my quarantine experience. -
2020-05-30
POV: Graduating during 2020
I graduated high school in the year 2020, right when Covid-19 was growing at a rapid rate, and the world was on a lockdown. March 13, 2020 was the last day of high school for me, but I didn’t know it at the time, no one did. Senior year was supposed to be me and my friends’ last year together before we all went our separate ways for college, but the only way I could see them was social distancing in a parking lot or on face time. My mental health began to plummet, I was never one to be home, I was always out of the house. Just the isolation, not seeing your closest friends, not having anywhere to go outside the house, and doing the same boring stuff every day was so frustrating because there was nothing you could do to change that because the rest of the world was doing it too and it just was how it was. I never got to go to prom, something that was supposed to be the best night in all of high school. Events that we have been looking forward to all our lives were being taken away from us, including graduation. It felt weird to be celebrating me graduating, since we weren’t even really having school. I tried to be optimistic, I mean I worked so hard for 18 years to get to this point in my life. My high school decided to do a drive-thru graduation, where I stayed in the car and was handed my diploma, not with all the teachers or friends who helped me get there, but I was grateful to have my family. I never got to shake my principal’s hand, had people cheering for me, or able to stand with my friends and throw my cap in the air. My graduation party was the following week and held outdoors, and I was excited to see close family and friends. However, 2 days before my event that I was already kind of sad about how many important people weren’t going to be there, my extended family contracted covid. My extended family was as close as my immediate family to me, my aunt was my baby-sitter growing up, and they were unable to make it. I was crushed and crying for days leading up to it and even after, it just wasn’t the same without them. It’s sad writing this, something that I spent my whole life working forward to just ripped away. It was a true test of character, adaptability, and mentality. This was the lowest point in my life, all thanks to Covid-19. -
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. -
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. -
2020-06-01
You Never Know What You’ve Got ’Til it’s Gone
As a senior in high school, I did not realize how important it was to experience milestones. I thought graduation was just an event that people dreaded and sat through for hours and hours until it was over. I thought prom was just another dance. I thought senior night for lacrosse was just a short walk across the field. I did not realize the true meaning and importance of these events until they were taken away from me. My whole life, I watched my friends and brothers experience their “senior night” for their sports teams respectively. 2020 was finally my year to experience my senior night. I joined my mandatory Zoom call to discuss the options for the upcoming season, only for it to turn out in the cancellation of the entire season. I was heartbroken. At this moment, I realized that I would never play the sport I loved with my teammates ever again. I realized I would never be able to walk across the field with my family and be honored for all of the time I spent devoted to the sport of lacrosse. I would never be able to experience the feeling of walking off of the field for the last time in my career. The only experience I got was a drive thru of cars in a parking lot. Nothing could ever make up for the memories that I missed out on when my season was cancelled. Another event that impacted me was my graduation. I had just spent thirteen years in my school district and it was finally my year to walk across the stage in my cap and gown while my family members cheered for me. Instead, because of the pandemic, I simply got to watch a slideshow from my computer with my name typed on a slide. That is all that was done by my school for my graduation. I was lucky enough that my family wanted to make this milestone special for me, so they gave me my own graduation. They set up a stage and a private graduation in my backyard with all of my family members which helped make up for the graduation that I missed out on. But, I never got to experience graduating from high school, and that is something that I know I will never get to experience due to COVID. COVID has had an impact on my life in ways that I did not expect it to. COVID took away experiences and emotions from me that I didn't even know meant anything to me. This pandemic has taught me to take advantage of and appreciate any milestone in life, no matter how trivial it can seem. I felt and experienced the true meaning of the phrase, “You never know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone,” and if I could sum up my experience of the COVID-19 pandemic in one phrase, it would be that. -
2020-03-01
The Hardest Year Yet.
March 2020 A week before the world shut down, I was enjoying spring break in the Bahamas still joking about covid 19. By the next Friday, I was preparing for the worst year of my life, and I did not know it yet. In two weeks, I lost the rest of senior year, prom, graduation, my stepmom was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder which made it impossible to visit my dad, faced the fear of my mom working with covid every day despite having an autoimmune disorder herself. I could have never predicted that my entire life would fall apart so quickly. I was mad that I ever took it for granted. I dreamed my entire life what my graduation night would look like, and I never pictured graduating in our local drive-in movie theater. I carried the guilt every day of not wanting to go out or choosing to do something else instead of seeing my dad. I wished I could go back and take any opportunity given to me. At this point, I still had hope that the nightmare would end by Easter of that year, but it seemed like it would go on forever. I was scared. I was scared that my mom would catch covid and not be able to fight it. I was scared my stepmom would not get better. Everything was so unknown I found myself fearing the future. I spent months doing absolutely nothing every single day. I was so upset I could not even bring myself to get out of bed to eat. All I wanted to do was sleep. I could not get more bad news if I was asleep. Every morning I woke up I felt like there was just more bad news and I honestly did not want to know what it was anymore. Waking up every day to more life-altering news with no end in sight was exhausting. I now believe that this has forever changed my life in both ways. I do not take things for granted anymore because I quickly learned how quickly they can be taken away. I have learned to always look for the light at the end of the tunnel because even if it feels like it will never end it will. The most important thing I learned was that life is like a wave, there are highs and lows, but you need to learn how to rise again. I have included a picture of the walking trail in my area. This trail was an escape from the scares of the world. I would often take long walks on this trail to calm the anxieties of the future. It was a chance to leave the house and almost forget what was happening in the world. -
2022-02-05
The Bittersweet Impact of the Pandemic
March 13, 2020 was my last day as a student at Fairport High School in Rochester, NY, although I didn’t know it yet. I remember that day at school being filled with joking remarks, especially “Happy last day of school!” We discussed whether or not we thought school would close in economics class, and if it did, we came to the conclusion that it would only be a couple of weeks. The next day, I was in the car with my mom when I heard that school was to be closed indefinitely and that my dance studio, which I had been dancing at since I was three, also canceled classes. I started crying and got mad at myself that I took all those moments in the halls and with my teachers and friends for granted, as well as dance competitions and practice. But, I calmed myself down by reassuring myself that it would only be a couple weeks. My mom and I then went to Wegmans to see how empty the aisles were, and I was surprised to find that the cheese aisle was basically empty, and that there was no more toilet paper nor paper towels available. It’s weird looking back on how we weren’t wearing masks yet. The two weeks turned into months and on May 1st, school and dance stated that they were closed for the remainder of the year. I missed out on ball, my last dance competitions, my last dance recital, senior bash, and my graduation. We graduated by watching a poorly put-together slideshow of everyone’s pictures and pre-recorded speeches. Teachers came by and handed us our diplomas. We all drove by the dance studio the day that recital was supposed to be. However, despite these setbacks, I was able to learn more about myself and become closer to my family. My life that was previously extremely busy was put on pause, and sometimes I miss that. I started to paint, I watched a ton of movies that I had always wanted to see, I had time to spend with my dogs and cat, I got closer with my siblings, and I started to become an activist after the death of George Floyd and educate myself on racial inequalities and police brutality. The scariest part of quarantine was when my mother was redeployed to the COVID unit at RGH. She was only there for a couple weeks, but she saw how hectic and scary COVID truly was. She saw people die and not be able to say goodbye to their loved ones. Whenever she returned from work, I would have the front door propped open and the shower running so she could just jump right in the shower, and then I would spray everything with Lysol. Although I became majorly depressed in September of 2020 and I still dwell on the moments that I have missed, the pandemic was able to put my priorities into perspective. The pandemic was able to teach me not to take things for granted, to pay attention to the world around me, to try to make a difference in the world, and to make more time for the things and people that I love. May all those who have passed from COVID rest in peace and my heart goes out to all those impacted. -
2020-03-13
The Tragedy of the Covid-19 Pandemic
I was in my senior year of High School when covid happened. That year that was going so well ended so badly. Once covid hit I lost all my friends and my girlfriend at the time. Everything changed and I worked at a grocery store. Ive never seen so many people at like such animals. while working at the store there would be about 4-5 fights a day and people were just fighting and emptying the shelves. It was scary to see that this is what was happening to our world and all I could really do was just sit there and watch and still hope that we would have enough product for me to still have a job. And that's not even the worst of it. I lost all of the fun things that happen senior year. I never got to go to prom, I never had a graduation ceremony, I lost everything. my girlfriend started lying and saying she couldn't see me because of coiled and I eventually found out she was cheating. I lost all my friends as well. The worst part of it is with everyone being quarantined, if you walked outside it looked like an abandoned waste land. little to no human life for months. You'd only see people at the stores and even then they aren't acting like the same people you once knew. But covid has done worse to me. Its ruined my football career and taken my dream away. It is what it is and I'm doing what I can to move on, but this pandemic changed me and everyone else. things are starting to go kinda back how they were but its not the same. Things will never be how they once were. Even when this virus fully passes and ends up just like the flu, the strain it has left on mankind as a whole will always be there. And even when historians in 50 years look back at this, No matter what there will be some part of them that has been effected by this. I honestly don't have much more to say because I feel like I've said what matters. All I have left to say is if you grew up/ are growing up during this I'm so sorry that this is what you also have to live through. -
2020-05
How COVID-19 Altered Some of Life’s Most Memorable Times
The COVID-19 lockdown began in March 2020 of my senior year of high school. At first, it was just a two-week vacation break, then it soon became unknown what the rest of senior year would be. I was extremely devastated when the pandemic took away my senior year because the last year of high school is one of the most memorable times of your life. Although it was a rough time, my friends, family, and I did what we could to make the best of every big moment. The first monumental moment taken away from me was my 18th birthday on April 20, 2020. My friends and I have always gone all out for each other’s birthdays such as concerts, dinners, gifts, and big celebrations. My family always went out to our favorite restaurants or had extended family come over to celebrate as well. For my 18th birthday, we made the best of it by my mom making my favorite dinner, and my friends planned a drive-by parade past my house with signs, balloons, and cards. Although it ended up being a nice day, it was still hard to enjoy it with wondering what the day could have been. Senior prom is an exciting moment that you look forward to your entire senior year. My childhood best friend and I planned to go together. My friends and I had bought our dresses back in January, so we were all ready for the big day. Due to school being shut down and social distancing guidelines, a senior prom was not possible. To make the day the best it possibly could be, my friends and I put on our makeup, did our hair, and put our dresses on to have our own prom. We took pictures together and had a little party at my friend’s house. The best part is that our version of a mini prom ended up being more fun than an actual prom. However, it is still bittersweet that we never got to experience the last dance with our senior class. Missing out on a graduation ceremony was the hardest part for me. It was the final closure to have with your classmates and teachers before heading off to college to begin a new life. I did not get to see any of my classmates walk the stage and share such a sentimental moment with them. We did receive our diplomas, but it was not the same as being on the football field with 300 other classmates and the bleachers full of family and friends. Senior banquet occurred after graduation where everyone got together at the school and had a fun night one last time. After a couple months of worrying, tears, and longing for more, it was time to move on. Although senior year did not end the way we wanted it to, the memories of making everything the best with the people I love mean the most to me. -
2022-02-03
A Return to Noisy Normalcy
Due to the rising number of Covid cases in Baltimore County Maryland, many schools had to teach students virtually for a two week period. Teachers, such as myself, gave lessons from the quiet abodes of our homes or empty classrooms. After two weeks of little sound besides the occasional 'ping' of a new email, we were allowed to return. The recording provided is the sound of hallway traffic and chatter from right outside my classroom. The peace and quite of virtual learning directly contrasts the sensory experience from stepping outside my classroom to greet students. As normal in-person teaching duties have returned, the sound of slamming lockers, excited chatter, frantic test talks, footsteps, and warm greetings have returned with it. While reopening schools brings with it new challenges and concerns, for now teachers and students alike can appreciate some noise and normalcy. -
2020-03-13
An odd senior year
On Friday, March 13, 2020, I attended my high school for the last time. I heard people remarking that students would be sent home for a few weeks, a month at most. As students emptied out lockers and said their goodbyes to teachers, I was a little stunned by the whole process. I've never experienced something of this sort, so it was a bit difficult to adjust. Sure enough, around a week later, we got the email that we would be completing our academic year through Zoom. I couldn't believe it! I was so upset that I wouldn't be able to see my teachers or friends before leaving for college! A few weeks after that, I received a message that senior prom would be canceled, and this was really a bummer. It was really upsetting because I pictured the night over a hundred times, taking inspiration from movies and shows, but of course, it would remain in my imagination. This story details an unconventional end to high school. Typically, one's senior year is complete with great anticipation, however, the outbreak of the pandemic resulted in panic, fear, and disappointment. This is just one example of how the pandemic adversely affected life for students, especially those leaving high school. -
2020-03-15
The Quiet of a Pandemic
At the beginning of the COVID-19 quarantine, I was recently married (about two days) and had to immediately shift to online teaching. My school believed this was only going to last two weeks. We hadn't shifted to a live online class and were still teaching asynchronously with online meetings once a week for anyone who needed help. Since I taught U.S. History rarely did my students feel they needed help (even if they really did). My husband was still working, since his oil job was considered essential, so I found myself with hours of empty quiet time. Of course, I found myself originally spending hours watching tv and streaming countless tv shows. After a couple of days of this, I decided it was time to step outside. I'm from southern Louisiana so every good house has a porch you can sit on, and mine was perfect. My neighborhood was never incredibly loud, but I live only a few blocks from I-10 (the busiest interstate in the U.S.) and there were always traffic noises. For the first couple weeks or so of quarantine, you could hear a pin drop. It was an eerie quiet, and it took some getting used to; however, I would learn to love that quiet. I would spend my days on my porch (thanks to some unseasonably "cooler" days) reading, watching Netflix, and watching my neighborhood. Birds I had never seen or heard before were in my oak trees. I also learned that Robins are very territorial and would watch my cats like a hawk during nesting season. Blue Jays didn’t wait to see what my cats would do if they got too close to a nest the birds were swooping down on them. I learned that my oak trees have a fungus that grows on the branches and can help me learn about the health of my tree. People I had never seen before were walking with a quick hi as they walked by me. I had never heard my neighborhood so quiet before or since. While I dealt with anxiety that my husband would get sick at work, or I would somehow transmit the disease to someone who couldn't fight it I also learned to relax and enjoy the moment. I had very limited responsibilities, my students only had about 3-4 assignments a week and they were assigned on Sundays. I would certainly never wish to return to that time; I would however wish that everyone could learn to relax and enjoy the quiet even if it is from your front porch -
2020-08
Covid-19 Freshman
The Coronavirus will certainly be something I will never forget and how it impacted myself and the people around me. The initial shutdown hit the spring of my senior year of high school. I thought we were going to be shut down for a month, at the most. That certainly was not the case. After most of the world was shut down for nearly 6 months, it was time for me to start my freshman year of college. I spent the summer going into freshman year wondering what college would look like for me, and whether campuses would even reopen come fall semester of 2020. Luckily, college students we able to return to campus, but with many changes and limitations none of us could have imagined. Moving into college was much different than I had always imagined. Before coming to campus, I had to schedule a two hour move in slot on a specific date. Before unloading anything, I had to wait in a line of other college student’s cars waiting to get tested for covid. The test had to be negative in order to be allowed on campus. The rapid covid test we received took 30 minutes to receive the results. This was the longest 30 minutes of my life. My heart was racing, and I was freaking out about what would happen if the test came back positive. I would have to drive seven hours back home, just to do it all over again 10 days later. Thankfully, the test came back negative, and I was able to move into my dorm room. Unfortunately, my roommate had tested positive, so I was alone in my room for 10 days. That does not seem like a lot of time now but looking back it was the longest 10 days of my life. Everyone on campus was isolated from each other to slow the spread of the virus. We were discouraged from having others in our dorm rooms and were encouraged to say in our rooms for the majority of the day. The gym was even opened for limited hours of the day. All these limitations meant spending a lot of time in your room alone. Along with adjusting to this new reality of college none of us expected, we had to worry about getting sent into isolation if we tested positive, and we got tested up to two times a week. I had many conversations with my roommate about how long it was going to take to get sent home because we all expected to be sent home, since we had experienced so many other disappointments and cancellations in the last few months of senior year. It was very hard to live with the high level of uncertainty. No one knew how long the pandemic was going to last, when things were going to return to normal, and whether we were ever going to receive a normal college experience. While many current college students have not experienced the normal college experience, we all expected to, we have all adjusted and have made the most of it. I am hopeful that we are close to returning to normalcy, and we all have gone through the worst of it. -
2022-02-01
Bagged Snack
This helps understand the history of the pandemic and the situation within elementary schools and that uneasy feeling is one that everyone throughout the school feels. As covid coutines to hit elementary schools hard. Teachers and staff are doing all they can to keep students safe as well as teach and help them learn. While at snacktime, we are reminded of our current times with our students pulling masks down just so that they could enjoy snacktime. We have to be aware that this pandemic is and will effect the younger generations in ways we can't understand right now. -
2021-02-08
Tweets that reflected life during online school
These tweets reflect how I felt while doing my senior year from behind a computer screen in my room. I would put my zoom class on and then spend time on my phone. Life was really boring, I had school everyday and couldn't see many of my friends. My school used Microsoft Teams for class, and it was really bad compared to Zoom. -
2021-06-20
My Story of How COVID-19 Changed My Life
When the pandemic first hit, I was one of those people who believed it was just like the flu and that it wasn't going to be as bad as people said it was going to be. Over time I came to realize that this was no ordinary illness and that the world had changed drastically. Streets were empty, school was online, and it had felt like a zombie apocalypse had gripped the world. One thing the pandemic taught me was to appreciate the time you have because you never know when it may come to an end. Spending time with friends and family helped me realize the joys they bring to my life and how important they really are to me. -
12/08/2020
Anonymous Oral History, 2020/12/08
C19OH -
12/11/2020
Braelyn Swedlund Oral History, 2020/12/11
Braelyn Swedlund was born and raised in Eau Claire and currently works at the Kiddie Patch daycare learning center, as a lead infant teacher. In this interview, Braelyn discusses how COVID – 19 has affected her life, including her work, family life, and the community around her. She shares what is was like when she recently had COVID – 19, and how it affected the daycare she has been working at during the pandemic, and what happens to the daycare if a child there were to get COVID. -
11/25/2020
Carin Keyes, Wilma Clark, Nancy Wendt, and CeCelia Zorn Oral History, 2020/11/25
CeCelia Zorn, Carin Keyes, Wilma Clark, and Nancy Wendt are residents of the Chippewa Valley and were brought together by their love of music. The women talk about the “Deck Concert”, an event that CeCelia and Nancy organized. Carin and Wilma attended this concert with their families. All women talk about the details of the concert, down to the safety measures they put in place to make the concert safe for all. The women mention Wayne Zorn, CeCelia’s husband, who was able to sing in the concert, despite being diagnosed with Primary Progressive Aphasia (a degenerative brain disease that attacks language and other cognitive abilities). In addition, the women talk about the Stand in the Light Memory Choir, as well as other so-called “silver linings” that have shown them the good in such an uncertain time. -
03/30/2021
Landon Bridges Oral History, 2021/03/30
An oral history between three students from Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis concerning the Covid 19 pandemic -
12/11/2020
Wyatt Weisensel Oral History, 2022/11/10
Wyatt J. Weisensel was born and raised in Sun Prairie Wisconsin and now works as a software developer for the Orbis Corporation. In the interview, Wyatt discusses how COVID-19 has affected his life, especially his work. At the time the pandemic started in March, he was teaching English in Japan. He shares his views on how, after getting back to the U.S., he needed to find a job, which turned out to be quite a difficult process. He also touches on how politics has affected the U.S. response to the virus. -
04/29/2021
Wendy Villalva Oral History, 2021/04/29
Wendy Villalva currently lives in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and attends the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. She is a second-year student that is majoring in Biology and double minoring in Pre-Professional Health Science and Latin American Studies. In the first half of the interview, Wendy talks about how the COVID-19 Pandemic has affected her education, family, employment, and community. In the second half of the interview, Wendy shares her own experience working on the rapid-response collection project for the Western Wisconsin COVID-19 Archive with the specific goal of “Documenting the Undocumented.” This part of the project focuses on documenting the Spanish-speaking populations in Western Wisconsin specifically migrant and undocumented workers. Wendy discusses her role and experience with this project. -
04/29/2021
Lan Yang Oral History, 2021/04/29
Lan Yang is an international student from China at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. In this interview, Lan talks about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected her and her family. She shares her concerns and challenges with the pandemic and describes how she stays in contact with friends and family. She talks about school activities and classes online. Lan explains the pandemic’s effects on homesickness and how she has been dealing with that as well as the pandemic’s impact on nursing homes and hospitals. Lan also shares information about her job working in the Center for International Education at the university. -
2021-12-21
My senior year in high school
The pandemic happened in my senior year of high school so it ruined my last year because I officially become a college student. I was really shocked knowing that I could never be in the classroom again. I wasn't expecting that because everybody thought it was going to be like a 2 weeks vacation for students. The challenge I was facing that is staying inside the house without stepping outside for 2 months. I drove me crazy because I like going on with friends and family, staying inside makes me feel like I've been locked up. And the fear of getting infected by Covid because you could put your family in danger. But as time goes, I get used to everything, I get to step outside after 2 months and I have to get used to wearing a mask in public which is not comfortable at all -
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. -
2020-01-28
Predicting the Future
I remember very specifically sitting in my Econ class my senior year of high school; we had to watch a CNN 10 video every week and explain how the things in the video could affect the economy. I remember looking my Econ teacher in her eyes and telling her that I thought the Coronavirus was going to be very serious and deadly. She told me that a few dead in China and a few cases in other countries doesn't mean that it will be a big problem. My whole class laughed at me because I was worried that the Coronavirus was going to come to the U.S. and kill a lot of people. That was January 28th, 2020. Cut to March 13th, 2020 Corona was in the U.S. and was spreading very rapidly. March 13th, 2020 was the last day of my senior year without me knowing it. We were told that we were getting an extended spring break and would be out of school for 2 weeks then we would be back. That did not happen. I never stepped foot into my high school again. We started Zoom classes on March 31st, 2020, and I never saw my high school teachers in person again. I didn't get a senior prom, proper graduation, or a school picture to show my future kids. Covid-19 ruined my senior year and would go on to ruin my first year of college, forcing me to drop out for the safety of my family and friends. -
2020-03-13
The Banquet
It was my junior year of high school and a Thursday night in March at DePaul College Prep. My bowling team boys and girls had gathered for our annual end of season banquet, a last hurrah. We had fun; ate pizza together, talked about memories made during the season and more. At the end we started to talk about how 50 kids had called out of school that day not including teachers and how crazy the flu was this year. It wasn't the flu, but we didn't know that it would be our last time at school for the year and seeing each other in general. My boyfriend who played baseball was talking to the bowling and baseball coach about the Nashville trip the team was going take over spring break the next week, the coach said it might get cancelled. This was due to the way COVID was effecting it people down there, we laughed it off and said whatever its just the flu, it wasn't the flu. He got the email it was cancelled that night and the following night we got the email school was shutting down for an extra week after spring break. Yay we said "an extra week of break" but it wasn't just a week its months and still going. -
2020-03-24
Sample Virtual Learning Schedule for Middle Schoolers
When we returned from spring break in 2020, we were sent a PDF of a sample schedule. Online school was mostly asynchronous (async) for a few weeks before we switched to a live virtual format. We would usually have one or two synchronous advisories per day and the rest of the day would be independent work. I had just returned early from a family vacation and we had only just begun quarantining. When we received this schedule, we still thought that the shutdown would only last a few weeks before life would return to normal and this schedule marks the very beginning of my pandemic experience. -
2020-03-13
What the pandemic!
March 13, 2020. I am sitting in the middle of senior civics class taking the biggest test of the year. My teacher gasps turning off the lights, and turns on the projector to reveal an email notice to all staff from the principal. This email is alerting us of a district wide shutdown on schools for two weeks. Everyone is confused, but being 17, thinks nothing of it and finishes our tests. Upon living school that day full of excitement, my mom calls my sister and I telling us to bring everything home from our lockers as the nation is shutting down. She tells us to come straight home, no stops under any circumstances. We ride home in eerie silence. Two years later, I still have a vivid memory of the moments leading up to lockdown in my bedroom for months. This pandemic has not only affected literally every aspect of mine and many others lives, but everyone has a very individualized story. -
04/28/2021
Jill Polglaze Oral History, 2021/04/28
Jill Polglaze is a librarian in the Franklin School District in Southeastern Wisconsin. She manages staff at the libraries at all levels of schooling in this district. In this interview, Jill discusses how COVID-19 has affected her life, including her job, family life, and pandemic overload in the media. She gives specific focus to the Franklin School District’s reaction to the pandemic and its involvement in the creation of protocols and keeping everyone safe. Furthermore, Jill discusses the various reactions to the pandemic she has noticed between the different school levels, elementary, middle, and high. Jill has a positive outlook on the future and shares her thoughts on a post-pandemic world. -
12/09/2020
Morgan Kallenbach Oral History, 2020/12/09
Morgan Kallenbach was born and raised in Hudson, Wisconsin. She works as a childcare teacher for Grace Lutheran Communities. In this interview, Morgan shares her experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic as well as her thoughts on the pandemic as a whole. She discusses what is like to work during this pandemic as well as her home and social life. Morgan goes on to talk about her experiences with information and news as well as her take on the politics of the situation. -
2020-03-31
I hate this so much
On March 31st 2020, my state governor, J.B. Pritzker announced that school would be out of session till the 30th of April. I was a senior in high school, and hearing that broke my heart as the last day of school for the seniors was May 8th 2020. The biggest year of most young adults lives is their senior year of high school, as it signifies their last moments of childhood before embracing adulthood. I was in my mother's bedroom sitting on her bed with my sister watching the live newscast. My sister was a freshman in college at the time and about two weeks before had to clear out her dorm room and bring it all home shortly after her Spring Break had ended. She didn't have a particular reaction to it, not that I can remember. After the governor stated that school was out for another month, I began to cry. My mother cried for me, as she knew how much I had been looking forward to my senior year, and graduation, and prom. While I was crying and watching the newscast continue on, I took a photo of myself on Snapchat, and typed out "I hate this so much". I did hate it, because there was nothing I could have done about it, and I was being robbed of a particularly precious moment in my life. Many seniors in the class of 2020, both high school and college, were robbed of what they deserved that year. I'm submitting this because this is one of many real reactions students in my age group had, and it is important to me since I am currently in college to become a history teacher. I'm living through a historic time that I will be teaching my future students about, and I will use the photos and videos I took as primary sources for it.