Let me tell you a story...

I want to tell you a story. This is a true story. I want you to sit and think about the words I wrote. Let the voices of these children be heard. 

In January, at a visit with family in Louisiana, my brother told us all about a new virus, one similar to SARS, creating an issue in China known as SARS-CoV-2 (which we, of course, now know as COVID19). I, like many of you, did not think much of this. Viruses and infections are likely to spread quickly through a densely populated city and we are literally on the other side of the world. Also, SARS didn't create a problem in the US. I just took it to be an interesting science article that I was going to give my students to read when we returned to school-which they did read. 

January ended and as February started, I was starting to get a little concerned. Teachers I worked with would come to me with questions about viral spread. Students in 5th and 6th grade began to play a game they made up (similar to freeze tag) called COVID-19. I thought the game was clever. It addressed viral spread and immunity and the vaccine. Admin was not impressed and thought it was insensitive. The students still played. Italy started to see a major uptick in cases. The US let in citizens but started to require they quarantine when they returned to the US on military bases, etc. We did not know community spread was already occurring. My students started to get scared. They came in with loads of questions every day. Our circle time in homeroom was not enough to answer all of their valid concerns. 

Let me pause and state, I am a number person. I feel better when I can quantify things. Percentages and statistics help me understand the world around me (thanks for that Dad!). I know many of my 7th graders felt the same way. So I decided to throw out my lesson I had planned for a Wednesday and printed a few articles for them to read for homework Tuesday night about the virus and about how scientists track and research viruses, in general, to prepare them for the conversation. I  also told them to come with what questions they had and we would try to find the answers together if I did not know them. 

Wednesday morning in my first period, someone asked, "Ms. Marcon, how many people have died from the virus?" I was prepared with my fact sheet and gave them the number I found on the WHO website. However, this number was too big for them to understand. "Ms. Marcon, what will happen if COVID starts to spread here in the US?" So I broke it down to something easier to comprehend. Percentages. 7th grade had 113 students. I told them to take out 13 people from the population and make it an even 100. You see, they knew about percentages but, as we all know, it is easier to calculate if you have 100 exactly. 

We picked 13 students and I crossed them off the projected roster as outliers in our study. They were not part of our population. Then, using the then mortality rate for Italy of 2% (again from WHO) (FYI it is now closer to 14.5% in Italy), I started to break down the numbers for them. At the time, the best estimate was that 93% of people who were infected would be fine and recover on their own. So, we selected 93 more people to be safe using the green marker to represent that they were going to survive. I kept all 4 rosters, for the reason I will explain shortly. but I will put that first one down below so you can see what I did. You can see that it was obviously UF's class because all of them survived or were eliminated from the positive case activity.

 

I then paused and asked how many of our sick population was left. "Ms. Marcon, there are 7 left so 7%. What happens to them?" These 7% (remember these are based on Italy's numbers in mid-February) are hospitalized and likely put on a ventilator. "Ms. Marcon, what is a ventilator?" "Ms. Marcon, does it hurt to have that tube put in?" "Ms. Marcon, there are still 2 students left, you need to mark them out too!" I have marked 5 of the remaining 7 with a blue marker to indicate they were in the ICU. 

I take a red marker and mark out the remaining 2 students and add Dies of COVID on the key. I tell them with a smile, "At this time, it appears that COVID only has a 2% death rate, so we will only loose 2 in our infected population."  

I ask them to write a brief reflection (1-2 sentences) in their notebooks about what they got from the exercise using our grade as the population of infected students. Each time (I did this activity 4 times) they came up with similar answers. Every class ended up with different people in the hospital or dead, but they were all so similar in their responses. "Ms. Marcon, those 2 are our friends. We don't want to lose anyone."  "Ms. Marcon, 2% doesn't sound like a lot until you see the names."  

I explained that each life was more than a statistic. That each person in that 2% were daughters, sons, mothers, fathers, grandparents, friends of someone. I reminded them to not get stuck on the numbers.I told them if it began to spread in the US, we would each likely know someone who was hospitalized and maybe even that dies from it.  

We went on to discuss hand hygiene and why we shouldn't touch our faces. What we could do to stop the spread here at home, and how I still didn't think it would be bad here in the US (of which I was sadly and obviously wrong). 

I will always and forever remember those 12- and 13-year-olds discussing their conclusions and asking their questions. I have kept the 4 rosters to help me remember that the deaths are not just numbers, but names. 

The death rate in the US today is now ~ 4.4%.  I have seen several people post the death rate and say that teachers and other school staff should not be afraid to return to school, because 4.4% is not a lot. You are right, that means that there is a ~95.6% survival rate but think about the 4.4% that did not survive. I ask that you do not just state the statistic. I ask that you remember the lesson these very bright students taught each other that day in February. What are the names of the 4.4%? Who are their friends? 

When teachers say they are afraid to go back to work, do not criticize them. They are worried about their students and their families. Please do not come at us with, "if you do not like it, get a new job" They simply do not want to be martyrs. They did not sign up for that. 

I am afraid, Do you know how hard it is to keep middle school kids from touching each other? I would say it is probably harder than elementary school because hormones are raging and they haven't figured out how to control themselves yet.  I do not have desks but lab tables. How am I supposed to keep them distanced and provide them with a place to sit? My district laid out a decent plan, however, the TEA crapped on that plan and said hybrid learning would not be a thing. I will say it again. I am scared. 

I just ask that you approach the new school year with a different outlook. Teachers are not babysitters. We are well educated and passionate about our calling to help educate your children. 

You each continue to be in my prayers.