In a recent statement from June 2, 2020, the Cobb County Police Department said it takes a firm position against all forms of racism and brutality. The chief, officers, and command staff take their oath very seriously, the statement read. “We hold firm to that calling to serve each and every member of the community with the utmost respect. And we stand behind our words with our daily actions as we serve ALL of Cobb County.”
On June 12, 2020, Cobb EMC and Gas South celebrated the official opening of a new and innovative Solar Garden on the Cobb EMC corporate campus along Highway 41 in Marietta. The 6,000-square-foot garden showcases three, 16-foot tall “Smartflowers,” which are part of a larger solar project to supply renewable energy to the power grid.
LGE Community Credit Union recently completed several initiatives to support the community amid the 2020 pandemic.
LGE Community Credit Union was recently honored with two Credit Union National Association (CUNA) 2020 Diamond Awards, which recognize outstanding marketing and business development achievements in the credit union industry. LGE received awards in the “Video (Non-Commercial) – Single” and “Website” categories.
The Credit Union of Georgia recently awarded Alexander Scheid with the 2020 Credit Union of Georgia Scholarship in connection with the Marietta Schools Foundation. Alexander was selected for his essay on “How #DoYouCU Making a Difference?” along with his impressive résumé.
Alexander received raving recommendations from his teachers, possessed great grades throughout his high school career, but what stuck out most was his desire to help others. “I have always found joy in helping those who truly need it,” he wrote in his essay. With a desire to help others, he has decided to pursue a career in physical therapy.
These times certainly are unprecedented, and it is easy to get overwhelmed with all of the virus-related news. But if you look and listen, there are bright spots, particularly when it comes to charity. In the toughest of times, people are quick to come together to help the less fortunate. One local organization that’s always there for the people of Cobb is the Cobb Community Foundation (CCF). Since the pandemic began, the people at CCF have resolved to help in any way they can.
For example, the CCF recently announced an initiative bringing together Noonday Association, Athena Farms, the Atlanta Braves, Ryder Trucks, S.A. White Oil Company, Mobilized Fuels, and numerous Cobb County non-profits who are working together to ensure that lack of storage space does not hinder Cobb non-profits’ food distribution efforts to those in need.
The Cobb Community Food Fleet began as an idea in mid-March when CCF contacted the United Way of Metro Atlanta – NW Region and Cobb Collaborative to assist in pulling together a group of non-profit, school district, and county government leaders to share the challenges each group and their constituencies were facing, make known the resources each group had available, and determine the best path forward to meet the needs in Cobb County. One of the many outcomes resulting from this group’s efforts is that in an environment where more than 100,000 Cobb residents have lost their jobs — more than half of them being in the lowest paying industries — Cobb’s non-profits are providing boxes of food to more than 5,000 families each week.
“Many of these organizations did not know that each other existed,” said Howard Koepka of Noonday, who coordinates the communications among 20-plus separate organizations distributing food in Cobb County, ranging from MUST Ministries to the two school systems to Cobb Senior Services to smaller organizations such as H.O.P.E. Family Resource Center in Mableton. “Now, they not only are aware of each other, they are eliminating duplications of services, identifying and serving areas unserved, and literally sharing food, box trucks, and other resources to make sure that everyone in Cobb County has access to food, regardless of whether or not they can pay for it.”
One of the greatest challenges facing these organizations is limited access to large quantities of food as a result of the disruption to the supply chain during the COVID-19 pandemic, CCF reports. However, the USDA’s new Farmers to Families Food Box Program has created an abundance of certain foods, primarily produce, which Cobb’s food providers want to take full advantage of. The issue, according to Koepka, is storage. “Produce needs to be refrigerated, and no single organization has enough space to accommodate the … three thousand boxes that are now coming in each week from Athena Farms.”
Athena Farms, located in Forest Park, is one of more than 40 contractors in the Southeast region that was awarded funds from the USDA to distribute food boxes. Jessica Brantley, director of purchasing for Athena Farms, explained why they reached out to CCF. “We really liked that they are working to help resource non-profit food providers serving Cobb, so working through them is helping to feed much more than just the clients of a single organization.”
“While at least some of the immediate food shortage challenges have been resolved, we had to resolve the storage issue if food was going to make its way to those who need it,” said Shari Martin, president and CEO of Cobb Community Foundation. “Our mission statement includes the phrase, connecting donors who care with causes that matter.” She continued, “The Atlanta Braves stepped up to provide the refrigeration space that avails all of Cobb’s non-profit food providers of the produce coming in, at a time when members of our community need it most.”
The one remaining need, however, was to be able to accommodate the scarcest item of all right now: meat. Poultry, pork, beef, and fish all require a freezer, and the Atlanta Braves’ storage space was already full. What was not full, however, was their loading dock. Enter Kim Gresh, owner of S.A. White Oil Company and CCF board member. “So many of our customers want to help right now, so we reached out to one that we knew would want to be involved.” Enter Huddle House and one of their vendors Ryder Trucks. Ryder has made available a 53-foot freezer container and trailer, which Huddle House transported to the stadium. Alongside was Mobilized Fuels, S.A. White’s sister company, that will provide the diesel fuel needed to keep the freezer running between now and the end of August.
Over these next two months, Noonday will be coordinating the logistics of food delivery by Athena Farms and other providers and the subsequent pick-up by five of the larger food non-profits: MUST Ministries, Storehouse Ministries, Reflections of Trinity, Sweetwater Mission, and Family Life Restoration Center. These organizations will be picking up food not for their clients, but also for other smaller non-profit food providers. The involvement of the for-profit community, the non-profit community, and even the local and Federal governments to provide, store and deliver food throughout Cobb made Cobb Community Food Fleet the ideal name for the initiative.
In the meantime, CCF continues to identify resources, financial and otherwise, to help feed Cobb. “Thanks to the Cobb Board of Commissioners’ grant of $1 million for food last month,” noted Martin, “these organizations will be able to purchase additional food needed in bulk.” Martin says this will allow the non-profits greater access and preferred pricing. “And thanks to these great partners, we’ll have a place to store it.”
Frozen meat and canned and dry goods remain in demand, and Martin and her team are on the hunt. “This is just another opportunity to connect donors who care with causes that matter.” For more information, visit cobbfoundation.org.
Senior centers have been hard hit in the coronavirus era. But there’s good news just around the corner.
The last several months have been unbelievably difficult for just about everyone in Cobb County, the United States, and the world. Still, no community has faced a tougher situation than seniors, particularly those in senior living communities.
Already at risk of isolation and chronic disease, residents of senior living communities from coast to coast have found themselves in hot spots for COVID-19 since mid-March. But there’s so much more to senior living, with many recoveries and many great things taking place, almost always outside the spotlight, each and every day of the year.
“It has absolutely been a difficult time for our residents, especially when they haven’t been able to see their families. To a large extent, they have been socially isolated since mid-March,” says Deke Cateau, CEO at A.G. Rhodes, which operates two facilities in Atlanta and one in Marietta. “We’ve found that our residents have been great. They’ve been troopers. They know what’s going on in society, they understand the steps we are taking for their protection. While it’s sad, a lot of them understand the reality.”
Cobb County’s senior living facilities have scrambled to adjust to the coronavirus and its accompanying restrictions on human contact, yet maintain a healthy environment for the vast majority of residents, keeping them in touch with friends and family via electronic means and continuing to provide a range of activities either virtually or at distance.
“We’ve made a lot of adjustments, and one of the biggest has been through Skype calls, FaceTime calls, and using electronic devices to assist,” says Cateau. “That way, residents are able to see their loved ones and family members. In the homes themselves, we’ve been able to move some programming online while ensuring social distancing.”
Staff members also have stepped up in a major way to continue caring for residents, even while finding themselves at some risk of contracting the disease. At A.G. Rhodes’ Marietta facility, activities director Sonya Williams oversees events designed to empower the seniors living there with a well-rounded quality of life. “We’re focused on simple pleasures and the wants and needs of the elders,” she says. “We also focus on resolving some of the bigger issues in homes like this, such as loneliness, helplessness, and boredom.”
One resident who seems to easily avoid all three of the aforementioned issues is Merle Houston, a former college librarian and three-year resident at A.G. Rhodes in Marietta. Houston not only attends activities, either virtually or in person, she encourages her fellow seniors to do so as well.
“My family thinks I’m sitting here holding my hands. Believe me, we stay busy,” she says. “I thought that everybody would be wanting to jump up and down and do something, but that’s not the case. Sonya has to provide for a lot of different personalities. Those who want to do things will do it, and those who don’t will tell you they do not want to do it!””
A personal favorite for Houston is A.G. Rhodes’ Music Therapist, John Abel, who sings for residents while playing a guitar. He takes requests and it’s hard to find a song he can’t play. Lately, Abel even does so while sporting an N95 mask, which again displays his talents but also serves as a grim reminder of the times.
While many seniors around the nation have succumbed to the coronavirus, many more have recovered than passed away. Cateau says some of the most joyful calls are those made to family members when a resident recovers, especially when they begin testing negative for the disease.
Aside from COVID-19, the other big national news of late has been protests against police brutality and in favor of diversity and racial equality. Cateau, who is black and leads a majority black staff, stresses the importance of having this conversation with residents and staff.
Especially the listening part.
“More than half of our residents are African American, and the vast majority of our staff are as well,” says Cateau. “We are trying to be there to support them and allow and encourage conversations around that between staff and residents. We do what we can as an organization to let them know how much we care for them, and how we will do our best to try to move against some of these obvious inequities in society.”
Though it does not house any residents, the Cobb County government needed to make major adjustments to its senior services once coronavirus took hold. Some of its programs shut down. Others, most notably Meals on Wheels, were needed more than ever.
With seniors stuck at home and volunteers, some of whom were seniors themselves, unable to help, county staff were recruited to step up and provide meals across the county. “We shifted many of our staff to operate Meals on Wheels,” says Jatunn Gibson, Cobb County’s director of senior services. “We were not operating our centers. And that’s how we got through [the shutdown], using staff to fill in for volunteers.”
Other adjustments were made in order to reduce contact. For example, recipients got the same amount of food in total, but in larger shipments that came less frequently than before. Transportation was the other area the county focused on. Buses picked up seniors who needed to get to, for example, critical medical appointments. Even this was more difficult than before because they needed to be transported individually. Lastly, much of Cobb County’s programming was offered online for those with internet access. The county is now slowly and cautiously reintroducing volunteers to senior services.
Another entity that provides non-resident senior services is Aloha to Aging, a nonprofit founded 11 years ago by Dawn Reed. Aloha to Aging provides education, wellness, support groups, and an adult day care at Mount Bethel United Methodist Church in East Cobb and at Burnt Hickory Baptist Church in West Cobb.
Aloha to Aging pivoted quickly when COVID-19 hit, offering Zoom programming as early as March 18. Reed says the seniors who have been able to adjust to online programming have done much better than those who haven’t. “Being able to laugh and talk with them, sing and cut up with them, is so important,” says Reed. “One thing we say is, ‘if you haven’t laughed five times in the time we’ve been together, we haven’t done our job.’”
Aloha also aims to help younger people understand the challenges that come with aging. The organization hosts “scenarios” where they may put earplugs in a participant’s ear, or Vaseline on their glasses, and have them try to perform everyday tasks like preparing pills for a vacation. Reed says it helps people relate better and communicate better with their senior friends and loved ones.
“I don’t think we give seniors enough credit,” says Reed. “They’re more resilient than most adults today. They have seen and been through so much, their grandparents or parents went through the Great Depression or World War II. They’re a lot more resilient than we give them credit for.”
At Presbyterian Village, a senior living facility with nearly 300 residents in Austell, one of the biggest changes that took place after March was a vast expansion of the in-house broadcast, known as PVTV. “Monday through Thursday, we have a chaplain and a staff member host the show. I’m on it every Wednesday, answering questions the residents have for us,” says Ken Rhudy, executive director of Presbyterian Village. “We also broadcast different exercise classes on PVTV. That allows our residents to exercise in their homes comfortably and safely.”
PVTV features local artists and musicians as well, even hosting a “virtual Grand Ole Opry” in which Rhudy played Roy Clark and Gwen Hardy, COO of Presbyterian Homes of Georgia, played Minnie Pearl.
Presbyterian Village also makes hundreds of calls a week to residents and family members, keeping them up to date on everything that is going on. As of early June, more than 18,000 phone calls had been made. Starting in July, Presbyterian Village hopes to slowly, and very carefully, begin reintroducing visitors to its Austell homes.
“We are starting our phase one plan for reopening,” says Rhudy. “We’re being extremely careful with this. There are so many factors out here and the virus has not gone away. But we do have a reopening plan, and starting sometime in July we’ll start having limited visits on campus again.”
Summer has officially begun, and if predictions are correct, this year will be one of the hottest summers on record. Of course, in the South we’re used to heat and humidity; we all have our ways of coping, but you don’t have to let these summer days drain your bank account from astronomical utility bills.
According to Energy Star, the government-backed program that helps us all protect the environment and save money, the average household spends more than $2,200 a year on energy bills, with nearly half of this going to cooling and heating costs. The energy used in the average house is responsible for twice as many greenhouse gas emissions as the average car.
Yes, you can help yourself with so-called cooling bed sheets and desktop or ceiling fans. But the bigger/better ways to keep yourself and your home cool — and to save money on your utility bills — is to check the following items in your home:
For more information, visit energystar.gov.
Some people are moving forward with life post-quarantine. Others remain fearful of exposing themselves to the virus, shunning even the thing that can help them stay healthy and have a great quality of life: medical care.
An extensive, worldwide survey1 published in the European Heart Journal found that the number of patients who sought care for heart attacks dropped by more than 50 percent in the early months of the pandemic. Another large study2 found that vaccination interruption could put 80 million babies at risk of getting deadly diseases like measles and polio.
While these are global findings, Georgia healthcare providers are seeing the same unfortunate trends. Halfway into this year of pandemic-related changes that have turned lives upside down, it’s easy to understand why many of us are tired of “corona-talk.” But we need to talk about staying healthy. This article will explore the important steps local healthcare providers are taking to ensure the care you need is a safe experience, whether it’s emergency or preventative care, surgery or even aesthetic procedures, which are in surprising demand thanks to the growing popularity of virtual meetings.
“I always say that parents know their kids best and can tell when something is wrong,” said Dan Salinas, M.D., who serves as the chief medical officer at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
He credits families with continuing to seek medical care for serious conditions or injuries during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, he’s concerned about a decline in important preventive care such as immunizations, annual checkups, and sports physicals. “My biggest piece of advice to parents right now regarding general care is don’t delay vaccinations, well-child visits, or sports physicals,” he said. “To help curb outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, it’s so important to stay on schedule with shots for kids of any age, from babies to teens, especially as we approach flu season this fall.”
He added that immunizations and physicals need to be up-to-date to meet school requirements as kids return to school.
And, for any scheduled or emergent visits across Children’s facilities, safety measures including health screenings, masks, online check-in, and dedicated “clean teams” are in place. Only one caregiver is allowed with each patient during a visit to reduce the number of people inside the facilities. Floor decals in high-traffic areas help everyone stand six feet apart.
“It’s been encouraging to hear our families say how comfortable and safe they have felt at Children’s during recent visits,” Dr. Salinas said.
Like most health providers, Children’s now offers virtual appointments. More information is available at choa.org/virtualvisit.
“Thankfully, our office has remained open through this pandemic,” said Christina Powers, M.D., an internal medicine physician at Medical Associates of North Georgia, a Northside network provider. Precautions to protect patients and staff include limiting people in the waiting room, temperature checks for both patients and employees, and mandatory mask-wearing.
“It is important to stay as healthy as possible and continue to be compliant with all of your medications and doctors’ visits to prevent your immune system from becoming weak,” she said.
For patients at high risk, Powers and her colleagues can meet with them through a virtual portal or by phone. “This has been especially helpful with our sick visits,” she said. “We can still see and evaluate them and direct them to drive-up testing, call in medication for them, or direct them to the ER if warranted. This is all done in the comfort of their home.”
She also finds it important to address patients’ mental health concerns that may relate to the pandemic. “Taking care of ‘all of you’ is a number-one priority for me as a doctor,” she said. “If there are gaps in your mental, physical or spiritual health, it can manifest in unhealthy ways. We try as physicians to identify the problems and get people to feel their best. So, if any of these aspects seem unbalanced, it might be worth talking to your doctor about it.”
“What we have seen across the country and at Wellstar Health System is a 40-50 percent decrease in Emergency Department visits, and that includes patients experiencing stroke, heart attacks, and who need emergency surgeries,” said Vik Reddy, M.D., chief medical officer for Wellstar Kennestone Hospital. “I’m worried about people delaying care and having worse outcomes.”
Essentially, if patients who stay home survive, they could experience heart failure or permanent disability. “Delaying treatment may result in an irreversible condition that can have a more dramatic impact on your health than catching COVID-19,” Dr. Reddy said.
When Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp began reopening the state in April, Wellstar was among local health systems that reopened access to time-sensitive, essential surgeries for medical issues that will cause problems if left unchecked, such as the removal of lesions or polyps in the colon, or symptomatic gall stones or hernias.
William Mayfield, M.D., chief surgical officer for Wellstar Health System said patients who need these types of surgeries will likely not set foot in the hospital for the procedure. Wellstar moved outpatient procedures to ambulatory surgery centers such as Wellstar East Cobb Health Park and Wellstar Vinings Health Park. “There has been a tremendous amount of work on new processes and policies to ensure the safety of our facilities,” Dr. Mayfield said. “Wellstar has taken significant precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and protect our patients and team members.”
Some precautions include testing surgery patients for COVID-19 several days before surgery. The system has also ramped up telehealth, with an estimated 50,000 virtual visits between late March and end of May. “Your doctor comes to you, wherever you are,” Dr. Mayfield said. “Patients that I have interviewed by video love the fact they don’t have to come in. Virtual visits are a huge patient satisfier.”
Seth A. Yellin, M.D., F.A.C.S. is founder and director of Marietta Facial Plastic Surgery, Laser & Aesthetics Center. One of the many treatments he is well-known for is Injecta-Lift, which reshapes the face with injectable fillers to improve facial symmetry and self-confidence. He also performs surgical rejuvenation such as facelifts, blepharoplasty (cosmetic eyelid surgery) and rhinoplasty.
When his office closed in the early weeks of the state shut-down, he offered new patient consultations using a HIPAA-compliant virtual platform and launched a weekly, hour-long webinar series to discuss various facial aesthetic procedures. He also launched a new skincare website with a home delivery option (MariettaDermSkincare.com) so patients could access skincare products.
“Maintaining healthy habits such as skincare during times of stress helps to create a sense of normalcy,” he said.
When the office reopened, Dr. Yellin and a reduced support staff saw patients two days per week. They adopted practices such as floor markings to encourage physical distancing, enhanced disinfection, asking patients to wait in their cars instead of the waiting room and increasing the amount of time for appointments to reduce overlapping patients.
There was higher patient demand than he expected. A friend of Dr. Yellin’s was less surprised, saying, “‘All my colleagues are commenting on how bad they look on Zoom. In reality, we’re in this weird circumstance where people stare at each other’s faces for longer than we normally would.’”
During the shutdown, no employees were terminated and furloughed hourly employees received bonuses. In June, the full staff returned along with three newly hired team members. “The emotional impact of looking and feeling good is part of self-care,” he said. “It’s an important part of what we should be doing during this crazy time we’re in.”
Resources
1) 2020, May 29. “STEMI admissions during COVID-19: An ESC survey on ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) admissions during the pandemic.” Retrieved from European Society of Cardiology: www.escardio.org/Education/COVID-19-and-Cardiology/esc-survey-on-stemi-admissions-during-covid-19
2) Hoffman, Jan. 2020, May 22. “Polio and Measles Could Surge After Disruption of Vaccine Programs.” Retrieved from The New York Times: www.nytimes.com/2020/05/22/health/coronavirus-polio-measles-immunizations.html
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Caring for caregivers
Caregivers working in this stressful healthcare environment during a pandemic may struggle with stress and anxiety.
To ease some of the burden on their frontline workers, Northside team members can attend a virtual support group called “Face COVID.” Human Resources offers stress management tips and provides “Monday motivation” to help employees stay positive.
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta offers its team daily support meetings, one-on-one staff support and visits with Lotus, a dog who provides pet therapy to patients.
Among Wellstar’s employee programs, it has established a COVID-19 Caregiver & Workforce Helpline and implemented a crisis care program that helps employees with child, elder and pet care.
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Med Team Tips to Live Your Best
*Some of these quotes have been edited for brevity.
1. Stay optimistic and stay connected. “You have to remain optimistic. We as individuals have overcome many obstacles. Maximize the benefits of being with your family and kids, of not running around to every basketball game. Stay in touch with family and friends with video.” – William Mayfield, M.D., chief surgical officer for Wellstar Health System
2. Exercise. “Stay fit and active. You don’t need more than a 5×5 foot area for exercise.” — Seth A. Yellin, M.D., Marietta Facial Plastic Surgery, Laser & Aesthetics Center
3. Reach for the crayons (they’re not just for kids). “Try creative coping strategies such as coloring, drawing or painting, playing an instrument or even breaking out some Play-Doh.” — Dr. Dan Salinas, Chief Medical Officer, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
4. Sleep well. “Sleep deprivation can negatively affect your immune system. Making sure we have a good sleep environment and prioritizing time to sleep will help us stay healthy in the long run.” — Christina Powers, M.D., Medical Associates of North Georgia, Northside network provider
5. Maintain a balanced diet. “The quarantine 15 is a real thing. People tend to gravitate to unhealthy food choices (junk food, alcohol) to deal with anxiety. A well-balanced meal can make people feel better emotionally and physically rather than binging on chocolate or alcohol.” — Christina Powers, M.D., Medical Associates of North Georgia, Northside network provider
6. Try something new. “This is a good time to do something you’ve always wanted to do.” — Seth A. Yellin, M.D., Marietta Facial Plastic Surgery, Laser & Aesthetics Center
7. Control what you can control. “It has not been uncommon to feel a loss of control because of so many external factors. I have tried to focus on the things that I can control — being present with my family, taking care of myself and contributing to the overall health of the community by observing shelter-in-place orders, social distancing recommendations, masking in public and handwashing.” — Dr. Dan Salinas, Chief Medical Officer at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
8. Socialize responsibly. “I had some friends in the back yard where we sat in lawn chairs apart. We all brought our own beverage and sat in-person for an hour. You need to have moments where you’re staying safe and balancing social interaction. We rely on that. Even my young kids, they thrive on their peers. We are not robots.” — Vik Reddy, M.D., chief medical officer for Wellstar Kennestone Hospital
9. Help someone. “Helping others has always been stress relieving for me, I think that is a main reason why I became a physician!” — Christina Powers, M.D., Medical Associates of North Georgia, Northside network provider
10. Call your doctor.
11. “Notify your child’s pediatrician if you have concerns that your child may be exhibiting significant anxiety or sadness/depression.” — Dr. Dan Salinas, Chief Medical Officer at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
12. “If anxiety and depression is becoming a problem, do not hesitate to contact your primary care physician. We are here to help!” — Christina Powers, M.D., Medical Associates of North Georgia, Northside network provider
Early this spring, COVID-19 news reports waylaid the entire country as various statistics trickled into the public domain. The onslaught of data soon alerted school systems about the severity of the illness and the potential for spreading amongst students. At first, the threat of a coronavirus outbreak seemed somewhat nebulous with serious cases clustered overseas, but education professionals watched scientific models intently and heeded early warnings. Here in Cobb County, an educational system known for outstanding commitment to the entire community, rose to the occasion to meet an unprecedented challenge and reveal a resolute fortitude.
The initial intimation of health concerns in schools elicited a theoretical approach that could be similar to that taken for extreme weather emergencies — a short physical break from the classroom while students continued with assignments and projects already in progress. But soon, it was apparent that facing a full-blown pandemic called for an entirely unique protocol.
“Everything about this situation is complicated and serious,” confirms Cobb County School Superintendent Chris Ragsdale. “The most important [aspect] has been keeping every plan, scenario, and conversation based on student needs, not based on adult pressures. Our team was definitely prepared to keep students at the center of our response and that is the most important part. Certainly, none of us were really prepared for a public health pandemic to shut down school buildings overnight.”
The idea of tertiary exposure through global transportation lines presented early concerns as administrators considered the wider context of local schools. Honey Brannon, director of communications and marketing for Smyrna’s Whitefield Academy recalls that just before their spring break in early March, they’d heard about the increasing threat abroad. “We were thinking about the travel aspect and organized a team within the school to brainstorm about the possible impact,” she said. “Prior to returning back from spring break was our first communication with the extended school community.”
Evaluation of available at-home resources for students pushed forward as an immediate consideration in transitioning curriculum out of the classroom. Jen Brock, executive director of communications for Marietta City Schools, pointed out that because it’s a smaller school district with a network of eight elementary schools feeding into one sixth-grade academy, one middle and one high school, they’ve been able to maintain good contact with students after quickly addressing their families’ access to technology. “Online learning is only as good as the ability to communicate with the kid,” Brock said. “Our most immediate challenge was getting kids online — laptops, Chromebooks, tablets, smartphones. Comcast started to supply free service, but we worried about how to get families set up.”
Despite the initial difficulties, schools promptly shifted into high gear, finding solutions to these new problems, getting creative with versatile approaches to instruction, and addressing an unprecedented catalogue of out-of-classroom needs as families quarantined together.
“Our teachers, school leaders, staff, and district leaders did everything they possibly could to meet the needs of students and families which changed, literally overnight. And they continue to do so,” explains Ragsdale. “I have been incredibly thankful to see our entire community rally … [Cobb Schools Foundation] raised over $200,000 for devices for students who did not have one at home. …Our community has helped serve over 300,000 meals for students whose primary food source is a school building. In a way most communities cannot say, our schools are the backbone of our community and our community is the backbone of our schools.”
Brock agrees, “When our doors close, our kitchens close, and a hungry child cannot learn. We sent meals out on our buses with the bus drivers, delivering almost 250,000 meals to the regular bus stops. Parents were happy to get food, but the kids were excited to wave at their bus driver! We also put hotspots on a handful of buses which could then travel to certain spots [for students to use] … Bus drivers could answer questions about how to log on correctly and answer other questions.”
Maintaining connection with students presented a potential setback when following safe-distancing guidelines to mitigate the spread of the virus, yet remained a crucial element of effective education. These education professionals cleared that hurdle time and again with novel methods for reaching their pupils.
“Teachers and faculty, and even principals, have been calling around and making sure that kids were okay,” Brock said. “The ever-changing guidelines seem daunting. We’re really listening to input, and polling staff, faculty, parents, and kids to get honest answers about what works and what doesn’t.” Superintendent Ragsdale expressed praise for enthusiastic educators: “There are so many, I do not want to highlight one without being able to highlight them all. There is a new story of a teacher impacting the lives of our students every day on our social media feeds and on our website. Just last month, over 7,000,000 people saw or read a story about how Cobb teachers get creative and inspire students.”
At Whitefield, a faith-based, covenant Christian school, establishing a way to implement a spiritual platform ranked preeminently. Brannon lauds the extensive school involvement, which achieved that goal far beyond what they hoped. “Everyone rallies around a focus of training the students in an uplifting way,” she said. “Teachers give morning devotionals through Zoom and Google Classroom, a daily email sends a friendly face with inspiration/motivation to keep everyone going, our Whitefield Community Journal reaches out to our entire community — faculty, board, staff, students, parents, grandparents, teachers, alumni — posting stories from individuals.”
Necessity has long been the mother of invention, and the educational alternatives explored during this health crisis preview a possible lead to long-term shifts in instruction. When educational support teams assess measures taken at this juncture, they also gauge future strategies for evolving learning models. Ragsdale clarifies the County’s position saying: “Before anyone had heard of COVID-19 and before school buildings in Cobb County were closed, we had begun implementing an education model which is less concerned with grades and formulas and more concerned with what parents care about — knowing what your student knows and supporting what they do not. We have been committed to supporting the transition from ‘education’ to ‘learning.’ As a big part of our COVID-19 response, we are more committed than ever to learning, which is less concerned with where and how, and more with if students are learning and what we are doing to support learning.”
“Some kids did very well and some didn’t, which forces all of us to address whether we shift a paradigm of education,” Brock added. “It’s showing us that there are many ways to use technology in a positive way, as well as to value human connection/conversation. School is often the one constant for the student and now that’s changed. As we prioritize the education of our children and the safety of our community, we ask parents for partnership, trust, and grace — we will do the best we can with what we know, while fully admitting that we don’t have all the answers.”
Whitefield acknowledges that the situation affects how the school moves forward academically. Administrators plan to use this experience to examine what works for individual students. “Because we are a private school that runs PreK-12, we see the issues and have the unique opportunities to see the various impacts even within the same family,” Brannon contends. “Our new lower-school building is scheduled to open this fall and we hope to celebrate that within these new parameters.”
Teachable moments surged in torrents during these difficult times, but Cobb educators view the deluge as a fount from which students will sip for years to come. “A big lesson in this,” says Brock, “is that we don’t always know what’s going to happen and we need to be agile.”
Ragsdale agrees, “I think students have already shown they have learned the lesson we all talked about before the pandemic and that is resilience. It is important to learn, but it is more important to be ready and able to use what you know in a world which is rapidly changing … a lesson many adults take a lifetime to learn.”
Brannon repeats the message that her school has been able to convey about the unconditional nature of personal faith: “Even without being able to gather together as a physical group, we’ve sent out loving care to the community — all with the focus of our faith in Jesus Christ. Most of our community knew this, because that is why they chose Whitefield, but they weren’t aware how deep it ran and how fully we would be able to offer that.”
As we look to the immediate future with hope for a return to a routine, Cobb students and teachers encourage us all with their irrepressible spirit. Our “new normal’ can be glimpsed through the positivity of dedicated professionals and enterprising youth ready to turn an unexpected predicament into a promising new perspective.
