Need support during COVID-19? Here is a new resource called Washington Listens provided by several partnering agencies in our state.聽Washington Listens is a support line that provides non-clinical support to people who feel sad, anxious, or stressed due to COVID-19. Washington Listens is free and anonymous.
Science says that COVID19 cases are on the rise and spiking across the country. Science also says we should go back into lockdowns and social isolation. Science also says we are close to the release of a new vaccine that might finally bring us some relief. That same science says that we should get kids back in school as soon as humanly possible. But doesn鈥檛 that sound like conflicting science?聽Well, it鈥檚 not. After countless studies conducted throughout the country studying COVID cases, transmission rates, and symptoms among youth, on top of safe procedures for reopening our schools, the evidence seems to be overwhelming that we need to get our students out of isolation and back into our schools. Schools, like always, are proving to be one the safest places for our kids.
Rolling up in front of Liberty High School in Spangle, Washington was not like the traditional experience of which I was accustomed. For decades, if you pulled into any typical high school parking lot, you鈥檇 find cars parked everywhere and a busy scene filled with students moving about socializing in small groups. Not today. It was eerily quiet.
Instead I found a half-full parking lot, void of typical activity. What I knew however was that Liberty High School opened in a hybrid model and that students were definitely on campus, but only half of them. I also knew that Principal Aaron Fletcher, a 12 year veteran principal (22 years in district), was somewhere inside principaling. What I didn鈥檛 know exactly was what 鈥減rincipaling鈥 meant in our current COVID reality.
The 5th Annual School Safety Summit was held on June 12 of this year. Annual Summits are designed to be participatory. Over the years, we have had targeted presentations on specific funding issues, safety topics, and studies mandated by the legislature. Some excellent recommendations have come out of the Summits, and some notable legislation has been proposed 鈥 and passed.
How about a fun, rewarding safety activity for students this summer? Washington Operation Lifesaver (WAOL) is a non-profit organization consisting of public and private entities whose purpose is to educate the public about safe practices at highway-rail grade crossings and other locations along railroad tracks.
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