The Mütter Museum will present a virtual program on the history of the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic and the virus that caused it. It will cover the role of World War I in spreading the disease, the scientific and public-health responses to the outbreak, how it contributed to medical knowledge, and how it continues to influence the ways we manage infectious diseases today.
All tagged Coronavirus
Hybrid Model a Work in Progress
“It’s a challenge, but they’re doing it.” This was Swarthmore-Rutledge School Principal Angela Tuck’s description of teachers addressing lessons to children at home and children in the classroom at the same time. As reports from other district principals at the October 12 school board meeting made clear, her words apply to many aspects of rolling out the hybrid instructional model in which some students are returning to in-person learning two days a week.
Scheming to Stay Connected
While I’m excited about going back to in-person school on October 12, I also know that about half of my class is going to still be going to school virtually, so I won’t be able to see them. I’m bracing myself for it to be tough: We’re going to have to be in a class without any contact, and we’ll always be under strict rules and schedules made by the school. There will be no uncharted time for us to just be kids for a moment.
The View From Here: Recent College Grads at Home
As recent college graduates, my Strath Haven High School classmates and I had very different visions for 2020 than the pandemic-ravaged world we live in now. We pictured ourselves moving into new apartments in new cities, turning over new leaves and sipping the sweet nectar of adult independence. We pictured ourselves heading to Target for professional blazers and slacks to dress-to-impress at our real adult jobs. But, as things have turned out, our “new apartments” look awfully similar to our childhood bedrooms, and we can get by just fine without the slacks.
School Days: Pandemic Edition
After months of meetings, consultations with experts, and feedback gathered from questionnaires sent to families, the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District decided all students would attend school virtually through at least the end of September. Now that October has arrived, some students will soon be returning to school buildings two days a week. What is all this like for the kids? What is their day-to-day experience of a school year unlike any other? We asked students in elementary, middle, and high school to let us know. We’ll be publishing their answers throughout the year. Here are the first three.
Foundation Provides Financial Help for WSSD Families
The Foundation for Wallingford-Swarthmore Schools recently donated an initial $5,000 to provide financial help to families in the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District who, because of COVID-19, are facing a loss of income, health problems, or unplanned expenses. Mini-grants are available to help pay for a variety of family needs, particularly childcare, food, household items, and school supplies.
Board Votes to Launch Hybrid Model, Sports
School buildings will open in October. And athletic competition will soon resume. Those were the main results of the three-and-a-half hour meeting of the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District board on Monday night. Votes on both questions were 7-1, with board member Marylin Huff voting against.
Awkward Zoom Classes May Have Silver Lining
If my generation learns to transform our self-consciousness into self-awareness, I hope it’s a lesson we can carry out of the Zoom environment and into the real world — when we finally get back there.
Schools May Reopen Soon
Will school buildings reopen later this month? Maybe. The Wallingford-Swarthmore School Board discussed the possibility — and what a reopening could look like — at a three-plus-hour meeting on Monday night. Also: concerns about screen time, sports, and more.
9/11 and COVID-19
Almost 3,000 people died on 9/11, and the cry has been to “never forget.” On each anniversary, solemn ceremonies recall that tragedy. Bells ring and someone reads out the names of the dead. Fast forward to 2020. So far this year, we have had the equivalent of 10 9/11s each in March, April, May, June, July, and August. That makes 180,000 dead courtesy of COVID-19.
In Between New Mexico and Swarthmore
A COVID-19 summer feels a lot like floating. Every day is basically the same as any other day. Little things, like weekends not feeling particularly special anymore, and big things, like the all-too-familiar fight for Black lives in the face of injustice, are so consistent that 2020 is starting to feel like one long-ass day. We are reminded daily that a global pandemic isn’t enough to stop or even pause systemic racism. But COVID is also not enough to stop activism.
College Closes Grounds, Prepares for Unusual Fall
As Swarthmore College readies itself to begin its fall semester on Monday, President Val Smith has announced that the campus is now closed to visitors. In an open letter to community residents, Smith explained that the college is inviting approximately 700 students — mostly first-years and sophomores — back to campus for a shortened fall semester. “Although outdoor spaces are generally considered safe,” Smith wrote, “with nearly 700 students, as well as a significant number of faculty and staff, on campus, maintaining social distancing will be much harder than it has been over the past five months.”
The New Normal
This is not the year they were imagining. This is not the year any of us was imagining. And as our community confronts the gap between what we had hoped for this school year and what it has turned out to be, a question keeps coming up. When will we get back to normal?
Community Responds to Publishers’ Note
The Swarthmorean’s publishers’ note on the virtual reopening of Wallingford-Swarthmore School District Schools (August 21 issue) provoked much discussion on our website (plus a few letters to the editor). We’re always pleased to host thoughtful discussions of important local issues. Here are the (lightly edited) comments we have received as of August 31.
Lisa Palmer, the WSSD School Board,* and Our Civic Leaders Are Failing Us
As September looms, we find ourselves on the verge of a new public crisis. The Wallingford-Swarthmore School District and its superintendent, Lisa Palmer, are sacrificing our kids’ educational and psychosocial wellbeing under the guise of keeping our community safer. The school board’s recent decision to start school virtually – a state of affairs that looks likely to continue indefinitely even if Delaware County’s case count data remains steady — will have adverse consequences for a generation of children. Specifically, it will worsen inequalities in ways that may reverberate for decades.
Citing Rising Risk, Board Votes to Keep Buildings Shut for Now
All-virtual school until October. That recommendation from Wallingford-Swarthmore School Superintendent Lisa Palmer was accepted by the school board at a special meeting on Monday night. The vote was 7-1, with Chapin Cimino abstaining. Board member Jennifer Lentz voted against the proposal. Three weeks earlier, on July 20, the board voted to give families the option of attending school two days a week (“the cohort model”) or having all virtual instruction (“the online academy”). 73% of high school students and 67% of middle and elementary school students had opted to return to school buildings when the school year begins on August 31. But COVID-19 numbers have increased in Delaware County since July.
Marooned in Vermont
Sometimes I remember our Queen Anne, built on a corner in Swarthmore in the 1890s. But now that I’ve been in Hartland, Vermont, for nearly five months, marooned by COVID-19, I often forget all about the house.
August, COVID Summer
As we slog through this dark time, there are also moments of light: the cardinal in the tree, the child’s chalk drawing on the sidewalk, the sight of my neighbor — hospitalized for over a month with COVID-19 — walking swiftly around the block. The rare face-to-face talk with a friend, with six feet of grass between us.
Summer in the Time of Corona
Swarthmore tends to be quieter in the summer, especially in August. College students are away; neighbors head north for respite from the heat and humidity; families take advantage of the break in the school year. But this summer’s quiet feels different.
My Choice for School Choice
The topic of education has come up a lot in the past few weeks as decisions are being made about how schools will respond to the coronavirus this fall. Some colleges are going all online, and some are limiting their campuses to just freshman and sophomores. Local school districts are trying to decide whether to go fully open or to mix in-school and home-school learning. I know it’s not on the table, but maybe one day someone would consider allowing students from one Delco public school to use vouchers to attend school elsewhere in the county. Right now, Chester-Upland funding follows the student to a charter school. What if it also followed them to Strath Haven, Garnet Valley, Haverford, or Radnor? Opinion Piece