One year ago today, was Friday the 13th. It was the last day of the 3rd quarter and Spring Break was about to begin. I was a Library Assistant at Kalākaua Middle School.
It was the week when the sports world has started to shut down tournaments, seasons, you name it!
At the time, I thought it was all overkill. I mean, we've been through the news cycles surrounding SARS, H1N1, Zika, Ebola. I thought "here we go again, it will just fade away like those other viruses".
Don't get me wrong, we were taking precautions that week. I was wiping door handles, chairs, tables & more, all throughout the library. Students & faculty were reminded to wash & sanitize their hands.
But still, most of us just assumed that students will return to school right after Spring Break, just like normal, just that this time, we'll nag them more about washing their hands.
Wednesdays were usually early release days for students so that faculty could have their meetings after-school in the library. But that week, we had no faculty meeting because the library was being prepped for the school's honor society induction ceremony for new members later in the evening. The ceremony went as normally scheduled, though I could hear whispers of "it's because of the virus" when the vice-principal did fist-bumps instead of handshakes to the new inductees.
Friday the 13th however, there were more announcements of cancellations.
I was in the library's restroom when I heard the school's intercom. I could barely hear it in there so I didn't know what was said.
A few minutes later, morning recess started. I expected the normal routine of students coming to the library to borrow books, do computer work or assist me in circulation. But then a large group of students came in all at once wearing the T-Shirts for the school's hip-hop dance crew (Dancers DeeLite). Because I didn't really hear the intercom's announcement, I didn't know they were all to meet at the library during morning recess. While there, the vice-principal announced that their upcoming event was canceled. There were literally tears coming out of the student's eyes when that was announced. That shows how much the event meant to them. To them, the dance crew wasn't just something to do, it was a way of life.
The library's student helpers were watching all of that being announced and they felt sad for the dance crew too!
As for Dancers DeeLite, they did a performance outside during lunch recess. I could hear the music from within the library, which had fewer students than normal inside.
Also during lunch recess that day, I was talking to the library student helpers and I said "only now I realized it's Friday the 13th, no wonder why things are so weird today".
I still remember which students were helping at morning recess and lunch recess that day.
I developed a close bond with those student library helpers. I was like a mentor to them, a trusted adult on campus.
And the sad thing about that day is that little did we know, it would be the last time!
The last time me and those student library helpers will ever see each other.
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During Spring Break, I was on campus to help organize incoming books headed for a classroom, work on temp ID's, as well as sanitize the library. Then in the middle of the week (3/18/2020), it was announced that all non-essential state workers were to stay home. The lockdown has officially started.
For the entire 4th quarter, the schools were shut-down and all instruction was done either online or through worksheet packets.
While I had a strong bond with the library student helpers, my relations with the head librarian were strained beyond repair. At the end of the school year, I decided I would be better off leaving the position. I already blogged about the issue at https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2020/08/restrain-this.html
While I am glad to be away from the head librarian, the saddest part was that I never had the chance to say goodbye to the library student helpers in person. There's a possibility I might never see them again.
When it is their time, I might attend their high school graduation. Most of the students from Kalākaua Middle School transition to Farrington High School. Since it's hard to predict the future, you never know who might end up going to a different school by the time their senior year rolls around. And even if I do attend, I might not be able to find everyone that I expect to be there. And if I do find them, will they remember who I am, since so much life has happened for them that I might be a faded memory for them.
Maybe we've been so traumatized by the coronavirus crisis that they still might restrict the number of people gathering for the graduation even a few years from now.
But then again, I've worked as a substitute teacher for 13 years and sometimes former students come up to me at random times & places. At times, they had to tell me their name because they have grown so much that I didn't even recognize them. That might be the case for the library student helpers from Kalākaua Middle School.
