This Friday, 4/30, I walked into something that hadn’t really happened since the beginning. I wasn’t there when it happened, but the way the staff talked about it, it sounded like an explosion.
What happened, that Thursday, the teacher I was scheduled to sub for the Friday, had left, fifteen minutes later her class went into quarantine. The two front desk people were working on finding kids and getting them out of the building the rest of the day. I also think sixth grade went down as well. It might have to do with their girls volleyball, but I am unsure. What do know is that the two front people were exhausted from it.
You could really tell, and the class that I taught, all online, but the teacher was at a funeral, so there really was no plan. I was adapting her plan to what had happened. I also had the other two 5th grade classes, but even they had been hit, about four kids out of each were now quarantined. For the school it was hectic to say the least.
This being the west school district, the smallest school district I work at. Though this is also the community where one the houses I pass waves the confederate flag above the American flag, so perhaps it’s not to surprising that they would still be susceptible to this happening. That is pure conjecture on my part. I am just shocked that, the smallest is the one to get hit like that, even though we’re so close to the end of this pandemic, which I know, that is me speculating again, but I do feel like there is hope that we are getting close to the end.
I also feel bad, for the regular school staff it was stressful and hectic, were as for me, it was a very easy day. I was online, helping kids, answering emails, but I didn’t have to take anyone to specials, lunch/recess, or the buses. I did teach the other 5th grade class, and it was a great topic to discuss with them, what the future of robotics might bring about. Sort of what Cpg grey has covered, however it wasn’t hard.
It actually made me speculate what the end of the school year might be like for me, as a sub, because this is the first full year for me. Two years ago, quarantine happened, and the schools did not need substitute teachers. So I didn’t really get to finish the school year. Three years ago I was working for ReadingCorps, which is part of AmeriCorps, so I saw the end of the school year. However I was only working with ten students. Both of which are in similar situations as Substitute teachers in Minnesota, there are not enough of them. I know this is a tangent, but this year especially, I have felt so stretched. We need more substitute teachers, and honestly, people with a 2 year degree could perform the duties that I do. Minnesota needs to change.
Having said that, I have to wonder if the rest of the school year will start to be as easy as it was on Friday. We are coming up to the end of the school year, which despite all the problems the schools faced this year, they persevered. I would have preferred if the schools had been given more support from the community. And I am make generalizations, which in many ways is wrong. Because communities are individuals, and there are those who stepped up during the crisis, and then there are those that waved the confederate flag, refused to wear masks, despite who it might effect. I am sorry, I have lost a friend, and I know people who got covid, and I am not impressed by the behavior of those that refused to think about the safety of themselves and their community. We should not coddle them, many of them are not children who are still learning, many of them are adults who should know better. They should, rightfully, feel ashamed for their choices.
Again, 5th grade, 6th grade, in the smaller school district, are not quarantined again. The people who suffered from getting this, who I know, are younger than me. My friend’s wife ended up in the hospital. This was never something that should have been politicized or fought over. The flu disappeared, because of the percussions the schools put in place. The Masks, the sanitizations, they prevented the spread of germs and viruses. Denying the masks at this point, is worse that being ignorant. It is willful violence. It is actively trying to harm the people around you, your community, your friend, your future ie kids.
They should feel nothing but shame for their actions and choices.
Matthew William Lindquist 