The high school's faculty and staff's reactions to COVID vaccinationNurse: Miller
Ms. Krisanne Miller, a nurse at the high school, received the Moderna vaccine during phase two of the vaccination roll-out. She received her first dose on February 6 and her second dose on March 6 at The Gillette Stadium. Similar to other interviewees Miller was feeling confident in terms of receiving the vaccine. “The vaccine has been given to so many tens of thousands of people around the world with no serious illnesses or deaths, so I felt pretty comfortable getting it,” said Miller. (read more) |
COVID testing: how the administration made it happenOpening school during the COVID-19 pandemic has required communication, collaboration, and cooperation.
This has especially been true in the administration of COVID-19 testing at the high school. “[The ongoing testing and the baseline testing] is an incredible amount of work, and it came from volunteers in the community, it came from the school department, it came from multiple organizations or organizations for funding, like the Wellesley Education Foundation, and all the volunteers that make up that organization. We are very fortunate to have some tremendous thinkers in the field,” said Dr. Jamie Chisum, high school principal. (read more) |
Looking through the eyes of Dr. Jamie ChisumServing as the principal of a school entails a variety of responsibilities, ranging from being a role model to representing the institution with the responsibilities that accompany that role. However, within the global pandemic of COVID, the weight of leadership has grown increasingly in a variety of new ways.
“It’s heavy. Often in schools, people take education very seriously, me, among them, I’ve spent my whole life in it. So education is hugely important to me. A student might work hard and have their heart set on going to Holy Cross, but if you don’t get in a Holy Cross, and you end up going to UMass, your life’s not over, you’re gonna be okay. It’s not a life or death situation, you could still be madly successful in life. Corona feels different. There are moments that if we don’t get our health and safety right, it could be heavy. That’s hard,” said Dr. Jaimie Chisum, the principal of the high school. A principal spends a lot of time listening to community concerns. A main concern includes the safety of the students: the lack of masks or social distancing occurring at times. These worries are addressed by the administration through weekly newsletters or emails aimed at parents, guardians, including students as well. (read more) |
The annual “scouting for food” event presented by the Wellesley Food Pantry is a major part of the re-stocking/stocking of food. However, with the global pandemic arising, the grand donation weekend was adapted to last from winter to early spring. Photo Courtesy of The Wellesley Food Pantry Website.
|
Wellesley Food Pantry annual food drive: Adapting to COVID timesSince 1986, the Wellesley community has come together to gather items to donate in an annual food drive hosted by the Wellesley Food Pantry. The event has been led by participating Wellesley Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Venture Crews, Girl Scouts, and many other volunteers who travel around the neighborhoods of Wellesley and collect food to stock the pantry for members of the community who need it. However, the pantry has had to adapt to the conditions of the pandemic and has changed its process of collecting and stocking their donations.
This year, instead of holding one big food drive over the course of a weekend, the pantry has decided to hold “mini-drives” that range from winter to early spring. Within the “mini-drives”, volunteers, Scouts, and crews choose a neighborhood or “route”, where they will notify its residents about the items that are needed and return on their designated Saturday to collect the donations accordingly. The dates of the “mini” food drives will be the following: November 14, December 12, January 23, February 27, March 20, April 10, and May 15. (read more) |
Remote Learning School: high school at homeThe Remote Learning School (RLS) is a completely remote school model that the high school offered in the beginning of the 2020-21 school year due to increasing numbers of cases of COVID-19. Instead of going into the building, students take classes and electives at home on their technological devices.
The model is a program designed to give students who elect it a safe learning environment. “This is something completely new for all of us and every day I continue to be so impressed with the work our students, staff, and community are doing to help our school succeed,” said LaCava. “We are so fortunate to also have the support of our central administration who created and continue to support the RLS to make sure all students receive a quality education whether they are in the hybrid or RLS.” (read more) |
Mrs. Keiko Keegan: The Face of the High School
From owning a small business to becoming a main office receptionist at the High School, Ms. Keiko Keegan’s current and past jobs are vastly different. Regardless of the difference between these two jobs, she shows her passion, dedication, and love for her job through her passion for connecting with visitors, teachers, and students.
As a former graduate of the University of Rochester and owner of the 1-2 Boxing Gym in Franklin, she was able to bring over past experiences and skills to better serve the students and visitors at the High School. In addition, Keegan said how she is very familiar with the High School, as her husband was formerly employed in the district as an assistant principal. “I am very familiar with this school, but there's a lot of skills that I brought from owning a business for years and working with people and [I also] just generally like people,” said Keegan. (read more) |