THE COVID COLLECTION

Home » Congressional COVID Collection

THE COVID COLLECTION: A DOCUMENTARY

WHAT IS THE CONGRESSIONAL COVID COLLECTION?

The COVID Collection project was launched in early 2021 by Congressional's Head of School, Dr. Edwin Gordon. The pandemic has been an unusual situation for our whole community, and we didn't want to miss the opportunity to document it. The goal of the collection is to document the experiences of our entire school community during the COVID-19 outbreak and pandemic.

The first part of the project was to collect all logistical materials into one organized place. This included everything from campus signage to class schedules to lunch plans to bus transportation and more. The second part of the project is what you see here—the stories of the pandemic. We encourage you to take time to browse the different pages of this collection to hear from our students, our teachers and staff, and our parents and each of their unique perspectives during this time.

Thank you to everyone who has participated in this collection to help us preserve the experiences from this one-of-a-kind school year.

STUDENTS

TEACHERS & STAFF

PARENTS

Julio Lopez Martinez

Auxiliary Program Coordinator

I’m not a big fan of being in large gatherings and I’m pretty introverted. Although COVID is scary, a sliver lining is that I have had an excuse to avoid large crowds and be more of a home-body.

Ella

Grade 5 Student

I was virtual for a long time, so I experienced many negatives and positives. The negatives were not seeing friends, being alone, ALWAYS being on the internet, and constant distractions. The positives were spending time with family and getting my dog.

Tinelle Davies

Human Resources

The silver linings for me have been extended time with my nuclear family (I never would've had this much one-on-one time with my teenage son), getting a puppy (Reggie is the new love of my life!) and building tighter bonds with my colleagues (we've been through a lot together over the past year). I'm looking forward to a less eventful 2021!

Patrick Min

Early Childhood Parent

While the pandemic put a screeching halt on just about everything (eating out at fun new places, travel, seeing family and friends, etc.) it also gave me the gift of time at home. Pre-covid, I was typically on the road at least one week a month, if not more. The time of covid allowed me to be much more present for so much of change in Olivia's life (she's just 2 and a half now). It's time and moments that I would've only seen snippets of in pictures or FaceTime.

Maura Rice

Junior Kindergarten Teacher

I think that for me COVID had both silver linings and unexpected challenges. Some silver linings? We learned that we can connect with our students in different ways: some of them waited all day for our FaceTime dates, or needed to hear us read them a story to feel like we were still their teachers. I had no idea how much just those little moments meant to them, and it was very affirming to realize that. I think it also puts into perspective how important social and emotional well-being is, and how that should always be at the forefront of our program at Congressional.

Marie

Grade 2 Student

It wasn't all bad. I got more friends. I learned how to weave, and I had an online acting class. And more home movies.

Cameron Yassine

Grades 5 and 6 English Teacher

As a teacher, overcoming unexpected challenges is in the job description. Still, for obvious reasons, this year came with a plethora of new challenges that no one could possibly have prepared for. It's difficult to pinpoint what, on that long list, was the most challenging for me. Truthfully, any one challenge would have been fairly easy to overcome on its own, but what made this year most challenging was the avalanche of challenges that seemed never ending.

John Cavanaugh

Grades 7 and 8 History Teacher

The hardest part has been bimodal instruction and ricocheting among all six rooms on the top floor each day. Silver lining - this bizarre year is almost over!

Carly Lundy Schacknies

Jr. Kindergarten and Grade 1 Parent

One silver lining of the past year has been the opportunity to slow down and explore with our kids. We've hit lots of local trails, tried new crafts and recipes, built major LEGO projects, explored our neighborhood by footer, scooter, and two-wheeler, and had lots of backyard fires (and s'mores). We also got to see first-hand, the creativity and resilience of our kids, and our community (including their teachers), for which we will be forever awed by and grateful.

Billy

Grade 8 Student

OUR SCHOOL'S COVID-19 TIMELINE

88,000+
DISINFESCTANT WIPES

190
PLEXIGLASS SCREENS

339
CHROMEBOOKS
(PRESCHOOL - GRADE 8)

5
INTERNS TO SUPPORT OUR TEACHERS

180+
DAYS OF IN-PERSON INSTRUCTION

PANDEMIC PETS

In addition to the sudden baking trends and Tiger King binge watching, new pets were also trending across the U.S. since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to The American Pet Products Association in its latest “COVID-19 Pulse Study,” over 11 million homes in the U.S. added a new pet during the pandemic.

To celebrate our community's new pets and the ones we already had that kept us going, we asked our families to submit photos of their pandemic pets!