It may be hard to believe or imagine, but there may come a day when today’s youngest students don’t really remember the events that unfolded during the Covid-19 pandemic. Though they will likely recall the mask-wearing and remote schooling to some degree, the day-to-day details and nuances of academic life during a pandemic may get fuzzy as the years go on and they mature into older adults in the decades to come.
In reflecting on this thought and the popular book series “I SURVIVED” that tells terrifying and thrilling stories from history from the eyes of fictional kids who lived through it (a favorite among many grade school children), fourth grade language arts teacher Andrea Moore prompted her Saint Albert the Great students to write their own series as a class writing project. And to make it even more lasting, Moore had her students’ personal narratives and photos printed and professionally bound into a hardcover book published by Studentreasures Publishing. Students in her three language arts classes had the option of purchasing their class book as a memento and testament of their experiences.
“It is my hope that if you read this one year from now or 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50-plus years from now, you will look at these students’ stories with great admiration,” Moore wrote in a passage that appears in each of the three books.
Her three language arts classes published “The Unfortunate Events of Covid-19,” “How We Survived Covid in 4th Grade,” and “Fourth Grade Survives Covid-19” and each narrative is more harrowing than the next. But most notably, their stories are told from the honest perspective of a child.
“Have you ever thought of going to school with something called a mask, covering your mouth? That’s what you had to wear when Covid-19 was around,” wrote one boy. “It was hard to breathe when you had it on. There were many different kinds of masks that students wore. Some wore regular face masks, some wore gaiters and others wore shields.”
Another wrote of summertime and baseball season, “Everywhere we go, we still have to wear a mask. We still get to have fun with our friends even though coronavirus is spreading. What a weird time to be growing up.”
And yet another, “Every time I had to sneeze or cough, I would always try to stop myself because I wouldn’t want people to think I was sick.”
Some were reflective about their experiences and thankful for what they did have, as compared to others.
“There are a lot of things different about school during a pandemic, but I’m glad our school was able to have us all in the classroom this year,” wrote one student. “I really like all my teachers, and I like seeing my friends every day. There is no way I would have learned so much if I was at home, that’s for sure!”
And, “Even though it was different this year, it really wasn’t too bad. I am just glad we were able to go to school in person and be with our friends during these tough times. Most of the other schools were not able to have in-person school and had to do virtual learning, so we were lucky. Hopefully, Covid ends soon, and we can all get back to normal. I am looking forward to the day that we do not have to wear masks and can get back to our normal school day, sitting next to more than three kids at the lunch table and playing with all three fourth grade classes at recess.”
Teacher Andrea Moore will be presenting the project and books to the North Royalton Historical Society, as one of her students’ grandparents is a member and was interested in hearing the children’s stories.
“As we worked on this, we joked about reading this as a bedtime story to their future children or grandchildren,” Moore shared in a passage printed in each book. “I’m sure there will be times their children or grandchildren can’t believe their stories, and they probably won’t either. It has definitely been a year to remember, and I feel God has given me this group of students to go through this time with for a reason. While I hope I taught them a thing or two, they taught me a lot more than they will ever know.”
By SARA MACHO HILL
Contributing Writer
