January 7, 2021
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An edition of the Littleton Independent A publication of
VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 4
Nearly 4,000 Creek district students quarantined in fall District sent more than 200 letters about COVID cases, symptoms at dozens of schools BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
As the Cherry Creek School District hopes for a January return to
in-person classes, the district’s data show that the number of students quarantined in this school year’s second quarter more than doubled compared to the first quarter.
Since Aug. 14, more than 3,900 students were told to quarantine, according to a report for a Dec. 14 Cherry Creek school board meeting. That represents about 7% of the district’s roughly 55,000 students. In that same time, 553 staff members —about 6% — were told to quarantine. Statements from the school dis-
trict in recent weeks have argued that little evidence shows the coronavirus spreading prominently in schools. “We can demonstrate, in schools that universally implement the recommended, multiple overlapping safety strategies, COVID is not SEE CREEK, P4
Battling the pandemic ‘ultramarathon’ through a nurse’s eyes Even a short time wearing mask ‘could save somebody’s life,’ Centennial ER nurse says
A NURSE’S MESSAGE
BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Even though he had followed all the guidelines — social distancing, wearing a mask, spending most of his time at home, washing his hands — a senior still arrived at Centennial Medical Plaza, feeling tired but thinking the sensation would go away. Without a smartphone or tablet, the man was communicating with family on the landline in the emergency room. Emergency-room nurse Michelle Schroder knew, after observing the man’s condition, that her staff would need to transfer him to another medical campus. And she knew that, at the time, visitors were not allowed. The man had come to Schroder’s building with his wife and daughter. “I just had a sinking feeling that that was going to be the last time he was going to see his family,” said Schroder, 48. She added: “It’s kind of a feeling that’s really hard to
Michelle Schroder, 48, an emergency-room nurse for Centennial Medical Plaza, poses for a photo Dec. 24 at Southlands outdoor mall in southeast Aurora, a place she sometimes goes to with her PHOTO BY ELLIS ARNOLD family in her free time.
shake.” Working in the ER, Schroder sees patients leave and usually doesn’t find out what happens to them next.
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 8 | LIFE: PAGE 10 | CALENDAR: PAGE 7
She never found out what happened to the senior. “They go home or they get admitted (to a hospital) and it’s not often
What Centennial Medical Plaza emergency-room nurse Michelle Schroder wants you to know about COVID-19: “I could potentially be the one who is an asymptomatic carrier … It’s my responsibility to take care of other people. I take care of people in the hospital, and I need to protect them when I’m out. That’s not because it’s my job and what I do. It’s more about being altruistic and doing it for my community, my family, my friends and protecting them. “All I can ask is for folks who don’t want to participate in the practices in place to reduce the spread is (to) think about somebody else. Think about your own community. Think about your own neighbors and your own family. And if you’re out, wear a mask. Maybe it’s only 45 minutes at the grocery store, but that 45 minutes could save somebody’s life.”
that we know the outcomes of the patients,” Schroder said. SEE NURSE, P11
SETTING GOALS, PRIORITIES Experts offer advice for new year’s resolutions amid the pandemic
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