Health Care Hero

Q&A with Cathy Cota

Of all the members of our Mayfield community who went above and beyond this year, we give a standing ovation to our School Nurse, Cathy Cota. Nothing in her 35 years of nursing experience could have prepared her for running a high school Health Office during a global pandemic, but she rose to the challenge, redefining her role as the demands of her job changed exponentially. From the earliest days of California’s “Safer at Home” order, Nurse Cota pioneered a new column in our weekly newsletter to keep our community fully informed on national, state and local guidelines and restrictions, and our Mayfield families relied on her steady tone, sage advice and practical action steps. She became a contact tracer extraordinaire, helped oversee our institutional COVID-19 response teams, constantly engaged with health authorities and officials, and interacted with her peers at other schools to share best practices. Our journey “Back to Bellefontaine” simply would not have been possible without Nurse Cota’s expertise and her “love full of action.” We talked with Nurse Cota about her experiences over the past year as a health care professional and a Holy Child educator.

We are so grateful for Nurse Cota’s compassion, care and diligence. She has been a beacon of light in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, and we’re all so lucky to have her at Mayfield.

— CYNTHIA COPELAND (AFTON COPELAND SPIEGEL ’23)

Do you remember what you were thinking in March 2020?

I was really worried last March. This was a new virus, and we were learning as we went along. In that sense, it was a bit scary to be part of a new disease that no one had encountered before or knew anything about. I had been reading about the new coronavirus for months and watching it explode. I vividly remember the day I asked to talk with [Head of School] Kate [Morin] and [Assistant Head of School] Toi [Webster Treister ’82] to tell them we’d need to come up with a plan. Initially, I thought we’d be out for six weeks. Never in my wildest dreams or imagination did I think it would get as bad as it did.

What was your goal with your weekly updates?

I wanted to educate our parents about COVID-19 so they could make informed decisions. It was also important for me to prepare them for the harsh realities of what school would be like when we returned [in April 2021]. We would not be going back to the same Mayfield we had left in March 2020.

What sort of feedback did you hear throughout the year?

Parents were really thankful for all the information and education. They appreciated hearing and knowing it the way it really was. Several parents said they knew they could trust what I was sharing with them, that it was unbiased and factbased. That is some of the highest praise I could ever receive as a nurse. Students also expressed their thankfulness. I was especially touched whenever one of them told me to “stay safe.”

What have you learned about the health and well-being of teens that you didn’t know before?

The teens are complicated years. I saw firsthand the importance of teens having contact—in-person contact—with their peers. Everyone responds differently to the same situation, and it was no different for teens. There were a myriad of responses to the pandemic and being remote. The one thing that impressed me the most was how creative teens got with their coping skills.

What do you think we’re taking away from this experience as a community?

I’ve seen firsthand how much we truly care about each other. How much we’d sacrifice for each other. How much we put others before ourselves. That is the true meaning of being a family, of loving one another. I know I said it a lot in my weekly articles, but we really are a community of “Actions Not Words.” And our actions spoke volumes.

What are you most looking forward to in your remodeled Health Office this fall?

Having a sink with plumbing and a bathroom!

“ I hope to embody the warmth and compassion Nurse Cota shows to everyone that she comes in contact with. She truly embodies a ‘love full of action.’

— DR. LEAH CARTER ’08, FAMILY MEDICINE RESIDENT

Cathy Cota, RN, BSN, PHN came to Mayfield in 2015 to create a Health Office from the ground up. Being a nurse is “the only thing I ever wanted to do,” Cathy says. “I really believe this is what God wanted, and created, me to be.” Cathy graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Public Health Certificate from California State University, Los Angeles and is mom to two Mayfield alums, Rachel ’04 and Carolyn ’06.