COVID-19

Brand New Lessons

JFINKELSTEIN@bridgew.edu — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 17:38:37 +0000

Brand New Lessons JFINKELSTEIN@b… Tue, 11/16/2021 - 12:38

Three alumnae reflect on teaching during the pandemic, the challenges and triumphs

September 3, 2021

John Winters, G’11

Story Series

Bridgewater Magazine

When the COVID-19 pandemic emptied Lori Duhaime’s first-grade classroom at the Edmund Hatch Bennett Elementary School in Taunton, she felt like she’d entered a strange new world.

“Every minute of the day I was re-inventing the way I worked,” said the 1993 graduate and veteran teacher of 28 years. “It was overwhelming. But once we got into the swing of things, it worked out well.”

Educators at all levels were forced by the pandemic in March 2020 to abandon face-to-face teaching. Immediately, they had to deal with the logistics of changing the way they did things.

“At first we had no technology in place, so we were calling kids,” Ms. Duhaime said. “We wanted to check on the well-being of the families.”

Eventually, new technologies and educational platforms were put in place, Zoom and Skype calls became the norm for meetings and other purposes, and apps were used to stay in touch with students and parents. Some schools issued tablets, webcams and whiteboards to help students and teachers stay connected, and novel uses for older programs and websites like PowerPoint and YouTube were invented.

Sandi Telless, ’02, kindergarten teacher, Central Elementary School, East Bridgewater

Beyond the technical aspects of this brave new world were other challenges.

“Not being able to be there for the children was the toughest,” said Sandi Telless, ’02, a kindergarten teacher at Central Elementary School in East Bridgewater. “Not being able to hug your kids and having to put six feet between you and them. They’re like family. I get very vested in my kids, and for me to tell them we can’t get close to each other, that was really hard. Kids need that connection.”

Joanly Ayala, ’20, now teaches fifth grade in Ashland but had to perform her student teaching in Brockton remotely during the pandemic.

Distance teaching has its highs and lows, she said.

“It was nice logging in every day and seeing students who wanted to learn with me,” Ms. Ayala said. “It was difficult to try to figure out lessons and how to match them with the requirements of my student teaching. It was a difficult time, but I still loved doing it and never thought during all that time that I wanted to be anything other than a teacher.”

Educators also had to deal with shifting schedules and situations as the pandemic’s impact waxed and waned. Hybrid models mixed remote learning with face-to-face classes, and, at one point, students were allowed to come back full time, but some exercised their option to continue learning online.

“At times I had to live-teach to kids in the class and also had some learning from home,” said Ms. Duhaime. “Now you’re trying to keep everyone in class six feet apart and also watch what the kids on the computer were doing...”

Often at her school, Ms. Telless is put in charge of the fun stuff. “It’s important for young students to keep them engaged,” she said.

During the pandemic she dressed up as a chicken to illustrate a lesson on farming and the life cycle – which also included counting eggs as part of a math exercise. She spent time in the woods portraying a praying mantis, had the students engage in scavenger hunts in their own yards where they had to count off their steps (more math skills), joined her colleagues in making weekly videos for their students, and much more.

“We had 12 weeks of school left when we shut down that March, and we asked ourselves what we could cover and have a little fun,” Ms. Telless said.

It was hoped that the new vaccines would usher in a return to normalcy in schools by the start of this academic year. However, the Delta variant and the millions around the country who remained unvaccinated as of late summer meant the new ways of teaching had to remain in place for the immediate future. Masks are mandated, some districts require social distancing and proof of vaccination (mostly at the college level), and assigned seats in the cafeteria. Group learning is allowed in some communities.

Joanly Ayala, ’20 Fifth-grade teacher in Ashland

Confronted by the demands brought on by the pandemic, educators around the country have generally received high marks for their adaptability and professionalism. The rules and methods of teaching have varied and still do, but for the most part, America’s teachers have been applauded for finding a way to get the job done.

One other thing is clear, said Ms. Ayala, whose first day as a full-fledged teacher was August 31. “So far, it’s been heartwarming to see so many students back and together again,” she said. “Some of them haven’t been in the classroom since March 2020. I can tell they truly want to be there. They want to socialize and play, and we give them the opportunity to do so.”

For better or worse, today’s students are accustomed to the changes wrought by COVID-19 protocols. “Kids don’t know anything different,” Ms. Duhaime said. “This is their way of life now. It’s become normal for them, and they just go with the flow.”

Some school districts have used federal funding to establish programs to try to make up for some of what was lost by students due to the inherent limitations of remote learning. However, that may not be enough.

Ms. Telless is less sanguine about the longer-term impact on young people that the challenges of the pandemic have presented. “For me it was about getting them back into the routine once the school year started,” she said. “These students have been at home for a full year-plus, that’s where we are going to see the social and emotional impact.”

“Every minute of the day I was re-inventing the way I worked. ... At times I had to live-teach to kids in the class and also had some learning from home. Now you’re trying to keep everyone in class six feet apart and also watch what the kids on the computer were doing...”

Lori Duhaime, ’93

First-grade teacher, Edmund Hatch Bennett Elementary School, Taunton

Healing Hands

JFINKELSTEIN@bridgew.edu — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 15:40:44 +0000

Healing Hands JFINKELSTEIN@b… Tue, 11/16/2021 - 10:40

How Dr. Christopher Frazer, his staff and volunteers rose to the COVID challenge

September 3, 2021

John Winters, G’11

Story Series

Bridgewater Magazine

Just before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most of the country in March 2020, including in-person teaching at ŷ��, Dr. Christopher Frazer had just finished a professional development exercise involving contagious outbreaks.

However, even that couldn’t have prepared him for what was on the horizon.

“Like most people, I thought the virus sounded concerning, but frankly it didn’t sound as concerning as a measles outbreak on campus,” said the executive director of ŷ��’s Wellness Center.

It soon became apparent that COVID was something altogether different. Very quickly, Dr. Frazer and his staff, along with a group of volunteers that grew in number as the pandemic stretched from months into more than a year, ramped up what became a successful response to the health crisis.

“At first, we thought, how are we going to do this?” he said. Not only did the Wellness Center staff and ŷ�� administrators have to find a way to keep students, employees, librarians and faculty safe, study tours were also in progress, and those students had to be safely brought home. While the campus transitioned almost immediately to remote learning, Dr. Frazer and his staff put together a plan.

The plan included training for his staff, an intense program of testing and contact-tracing, educating members of the ŷ�� community about hygiene and the importance of wearing a face mask, recruiting and training volunteers, and, ultimately, the opening of a regional vaccination center on campus. Weekly meetings with the president and the cabinet were also instituted for the purposes of planning and to facilitate communication.

For Dr. Frazer and his staff of 11, along with volunteers from across campus, there were many long days. For instance, if in the early morning hours test results arrived showing that someone tested positive for the virus,
Dr. Frazer and his team had just a few hours to notify everyone who’d been in contact with that individual and get them to quarantine.

“It became kind of an around-the-clock operation,” he said. Dr. Frazer figured that Kelsey Gauthier, assistant director of events management, made up to 1,500 calls last year in an effort to notify students about test results and, at times, the need to quarantine.

The six-day work weeks and 12-plus-hour work days paid off. In the end, the campus experienced a positive test rate of less than 1 percent. Only one student ended up hospitalized, and that may have been for
a non-COVID reason.

“By and large, our students recovered very well and were able to convalesce in a manner that didn’t perpetuate the spread of the illness,” Dr. Frazer said. “We had a good system, but my mind keeps returning to the great people here who were willing to make this work.”

Those volunteers who went above and beyond, he added, were:

Testing: Greg DeMelo, G’11; Kathie Manning; Nick Burns, ’15; Kyle Bueno, ’18; Cathleen DeSimone; Eva Gaffney, G’01; and Jeanne O’Brien.

Tracing: Kelsey Gauthier, Jacklyn Walsh, Denise Diliddo and Shirelle Gurley.

Wellness: Cindy Calderon, Beth Archambault, Sara LaPlume and Lynn Grabau.

We had a good system, but my mind keeps returning to the great people here who were willing to make this work.

Dr. Christopher Frazer

Student Perspective: Jean B. Mercredy, ’22

JFINKELSTEIN@bridgew.edu — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 14:39:47 +0000

Student Perspective: Jean B. Mercredy, ’22 JFINKELSTEIN@b… Thu, 12/03/2020 - 09:39

While no one can say when the COVID-19 pandemic will ease, Jean B. Mercredy is already looking forward to that day.

October 1, 2020

John Winters, G’11

Story Series

Bridgewater Magazine

While no one can say when the COVID-19 pandemic will ease, Jean B. Mercredy is already looking forward to that day. In fact, he’s commemorated it with a poem he’s written called “When All of This is Over.”

The Haitian native and Holbrook resident writes poetry in his spare time and delivers some of it in spoken word performances. Being a global management major carrying minors in health care resources and Spanish doesn’t leave much free time, but this enterprising student makes room for studies and work, as well as his passions – he’s also a fine dancer, specializing in Latin dances such as the salsa and merengue.

Jean works at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth in the Emerson Four unit as a unit coordinator, where he handles admissions and discharge paperwork, and serves as a liaison between patients and medical staff. The demands of his job increased this spring when the region had its largest number of coronavirus cases, and he quickly became accustomed to wearing a mask and social distancing as part of his work day.

Writing poetry helps him deal with life’s difficulties. “If I’m in stress or struggling, it’s a way of taking the stress away and helping me to connect with other people or to an audience,” Jean said.

We share this poem of his in hopes it will similarly bring some solace to our readers.

When All of This is Over

When all of this is over
I will come up to you and shake your hand
When all of this is over
I will hug you like I have never done before
When all of this is over
We will hold each other like never before
When all of this is over
I will wave at you and smile
When all of this is over
I will write you words of thankfulness
When all of this is over
We will worship the Lord under the same roof
When all of this is over
I will celebrate, honor, and exalt you with priceless ornaments
For standing strong on the front lines

You are a health care worker
You are an EMT
You volunteer to assist a suspected covid-19
You are a janitor who cleans after the sick
You are a nurse who is devoted to individual care in this catastrophe
You are a doctor who gives 100 percent of yourself
Where there you are a member of the ER
Or you coordinated a unit or did an assignment
You are a member of the health care system
Where there you were responsible to secure a place or to construct facilities

I am telling you right now!
When all of this is over
I will come up to you and shake your hand
When all of this is over
I will hug you like I have never done before
When all of this is over
We will hold each other like never before
When all of this is over
I will wave at you and smile
When all of this is over
I will write you words of thankfulness
When all of this is over
We will worship the Lord under the same roof
When all of this is over
I will celebrate, honor, and exalt you with priceless ornaments
For standing strong on the front lines
In the meantime
Thank you!!!

"If I’m in stress or struggling, it’s a way of taking the stress away and helping me to connect with other people or to an audience."

Jean B. Mercredy, ’22