Opportunities present themselves in many ways. The COVID-19 pandemic certainly provided us all with many opportunities to show what we are made of. Young and old alike faced unimagined challenges that only happened on the big screen or in books from the fiction section in the library.

Our school has been lucky enough to be able to hold face-to-face classes all this year so far. HIS Kids Christian School, like most other schools around, took extreme measures to clean, to sanitize, and to create well-ventilated common spaces. We built partitions, installed numerous hand-sanitizing stations and posted signs to remind students and staff to wash hands frequently. In spite of all these precautions, we worried most about how young students would respond to wearing masks all day long.

Heeding the advice of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the CDC and many other medical research authorities, we began the school year with the expectation that all students and staff would wear masks, shields or both during school hours — in classrooms and in the hallways. Face coverings could only be removed during snack time, lunchtime and for periodic mask breaks when acceptable distancing could be observed. For the most part, students responded extremely well.

Yes, some students were confused about why their new normal included wearing a mask in school. Some of them even faced push-back from unconvinced family members. Teachers saw this as an opportunity to instill some of the most important lessons for students to learn in school — love, caring and concern for others. Once they understood more about how a simple thing like wearing a mask could help to protect their friends, teachers and loved ones, students were more willing to wear masks without question.

Perhaps, an unexpected consequence of these COVID-19 times is that people will learn the importance of not only taking care of themselves, but also taking care of each other. Any of the students at HIS Kids should be able to answer the question, “Why do we wear masks?” Their answers would be simple: “We wear them because we care.”

Shouldn't the rest of us learn a lesson from young students like these? Wear a mask. Show you care.

Debora Dawson, principal

HIS Kids Christian School

Butler