Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Evergreen Ever the
News
A Second Winter with COVID-19
3
The Greenhill Community Emerges from Two Years of an Epic Pandemic Saara Bidiwala
D
ecember marks two years since COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China. Three months later, in March 2020, schools started shutting down, and virtual learning began. Today, Greenhill is in a very different place. Classes are now in person, and many events and traditions have returned to the Hill. On Nov. 30, right after Thanksgiving break, Greenhill’s mask mandate was removed for grade 9-12 students in strictly Upper School buildings. In an email sent to families on Nov. 12, Head of School Lee Hark announced that the school would transition to a “masks-encouraged” policy for fully vaccinated students. He cited the “improving situation with COVID locally” as the impetus for the decision, as well as the recent COVID-19 vaccine authorization for younger children and the availability of the booster shot. In the Upper School, based on numbers from Dec. 6, vaccination rates are in the 90% range. “Students who are not vaccinated will be expected to continue to wear a mask,” Hark said in the email. “We will closely monitor COVID-19 cases in the Upper School, and if needed, we may return to requiring masks for Upper School.”
!
I think that demonstrating empathy and highlighting actual personal anecdotes of how the vaccine has helped you personally [is important]. We should come into these discussions not with, ‘You must get a vaccine,’ but rather, ‘This is why I got the vaccine, and let me share my story with you.”
that he’s vaccinated, he can actually go out and interact with other kids. Now he can go places because I think my family is more comfortable knowing that he’s vaccinated.” Head of Lower School Michael Simpson says the new vaccine authorization brings hope to the division, partly because it means masks will no longer be a requirement for fully vaccinated students in the division on Jan. 18. “There’s so much nonverbal communication that happens in the classroom,” Simpson said. “Teachers, with a look or a smile or whatever on their face, can communicate to a child encouragement or correction or whatever it is. It’s also easier to read children’s faces when you can see more than a third of it. The masks are hard, so we’re looking forward to not having the masks.”
Booster Shots Since September, COVID-19 booster shots have been administered to adults across the country. Although most students are not yet eligible, over 100 members of the teaching faculty have gotten their booster shot. “It was super convenient to get it here, so I was happy that the school provided that clinic and I never questioned whether I would get it or not,” said Upper School Teacher Stephanie Almanza. “It felt like just the next step. I took the vaccine because I myself am immunocompromised. I feel more comfortable having other people come into my space whether they are vaccinated or not knowing that I am safer because I have the vaccine. The more immunity we have, the more comfortable I feel.” Junior Ahmed Agha’s parents are healthcare workers, so they’ve treated COVID-19 patients. For his family, getting the booster shot is a big relief because it’s another
The decision aligns with several private schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, such as Parish Episcopal School and the Episcopal School of Dallas, which have already implemented similar policies. “We really worked hard to stay in partnership with our local peer schools,” Hark said. “I think doing so is smart because our peer schools are full of really smart, good people thinking hard about the same problems that we are. We share information, pitch ideas and let each other know when we are making those kinds of decisions. We have families with kids in different schools simultaneously, so it makes sense for us to understand what other schools are doing and incorporate that into our thinking.” Hark added, “It [also] certainly helped me feel comfortable about the decision.” Hark says Greenhill is relying on students to honor the school’s policies and expectations, and to make the right choice to mask or not depending on their vaccination status, especially amid the recent emergence of the omicron variant in the United States.
Vaccine Authorization Lower School and Middle School will also transition to a “masks-encouraged” policy but only on Jan. 18 as the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was authorized on Oct. 29 for age 5-11 students. In many ways, the vaccine authorization is a gamechanger for divisions and families with younger students. Previously, Greenhill has been very deliberate in making sure that there is minimal cross-campus interaction among lower divisions and Upper School because many younger kids were not eligible to be vaccinated. Now that Lower and Middle School students are eligible to be vaccinated, many people’s concerns are alleviated.
Vaccine Hesitancy The success of this new masking policy is contingent on people getting vaccinated when they’re eligible and unvaccinated people wearing masks. Now, the omicron variant is raising concerns among scientists and leaders worldwide, so more people are urging unvaccinated people to get immunized. Despite this, many people’s concerns about the safety of the vaccine and political opinions are keeping them from getting vaccinated.
!
We’re pretty happy about it to be honest, especially because a lot more people are just getting tired of this whole pandemic and there’s a growing urge to want to see more people, despite the dangers being the same or even more in places where there’s the delta variant.”
“A lot of hesitancy that we see from people, especially in communities of color, comes because of things that have happened in the past, the way the government has tested and the way that vaccines have been rolled out and distributed, so it’s a politically charged situation for a reason,” Almanza said. “I always do tell people that I understand that they might be hesitant but that I got the vaccine because of my own personal reasons.” The school is encouraging eligible individuals to get vaccinated and has held several clinics to administer COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots. Simpson has witnessed both sides of the spectrum in his division. He said that, as soon as the vaccine was authorized for younger kids in October, many parents picked their kids up early to go get their shot, and some parents told him they were not going to get their kids vaccinated for some time. Ultimately, Almanza believes that having compassion during this challenging time is crucial to combatting vaccine hesitancy and ending this pandemic. “I think that demonstrating empathy and highlighting actual personal anecdotes of how the vaccine has helped you personally [is important],” Almanza said. “We should come into these discussions not with, ‘You must get a vaccine,’ but rather, ‘This is why I got the vaccine, and let me share my story with you.’”
!
A lot of hesitancy that we see from people, especially in communities of color, comes because of things that have happened in the past, the way the government has tested and the way that vaccines have been rolled out and distributed, so it’s a politically charged situation for a reason.”
Freshman Claire Brophy has a younger brother in Lower School. He has an autoimmune deficiency, so her family was very excited when he was able to get vaccinated. “We were worried that if he got it, it would be harder on him than it would the rest of us, so we always tried to socially distance and wear masks and all that just so he didn’t get it,” Brophy said. “He’s looking forward to playing with his neighborhood friends that he couldn’t play with before. Now
layer of protection for the younger members of his family and his grandparents. “We’re pretty happy about it to be honest, especially because a lot more people are just getting tired of this whole pandemic and there’s a growing urge to want to see more people, despite the dangers being the same or even more in places where there’s the delta variant,” he said. Graphic by Emma Nguyen