School Life: 1200 Smiles

Last week we reopened our doors to our students and we were able to engage in face-to-face teaching once more. At 8am we had a crowd of teachers eager to greet students at the gate. The children were pumped, running into school and into the mandated COVID screening. There was excitement mixed with a degree of frustration and acceptance. Temperature checks, swab testing and face masks seem like a much lesser evil after the lockdown. The community has rallied around and complied with the necessary precautions with little complaint. It’s good to be back!

Each day we are required to complete a round of COVID testing. 1200 students organised by Advisors and directed to the CDC testing staff. It has been a slick operation. Most days the whole process is complete within an hour. At times, the incessant testing becomes tiresome. However, this hour has provided me with a unique opportunity. To connect with every student in the school during a single day.

At 1:30pm each day, the leadership team joined by a team of volunteers oversees the testing hour. During this time we register the students and acknowledge that they have indeed been subjected to a good swabbing. This brief daily interaction required some levity, after all, we are missing class time. As a team, we have joked with, rapped (badly) at, interviewed and checked in with our students. We have managed to speak with the introverted, the extroverted, and those who would prefer to avoid the administration. One thing is hard to ignore. The smiles (even from behind a mask). 1200 smiles. Despite the challenges and uncertainty, the kids are having fun, and I am coming to know more and more students. Not a bad trade-off. So, if ever there was a silver lining, this is it.