By Charlotte Parent
The Tower
Grosse Pointe South HS
1st Place
Division 2, News Writing
As Bridget Backer ’22 sat in an awkward, heavily-sanitized examination chair at her local Urgent Care, her immediate reaction upon hearing her rapid COVID-19 test was positive was to cry.
She was scared for how her body would handle COVID. She was upset for the people she had inadvertently exposed. Above all, though, she felt ashamed for exposing her friends and classmates, despite it not being her fault for being exposed.
Backer said she started following the GPPSS protocols for a positive test– which included beginning a 10-day quarantine– until her regular PCR test came back negative, which meant she was allowed to come back to school, no additional test required. She said she wasn’t surprised that COVID cases had started appearing at South– she was more surprised with how early they had appeared.
“It was strange knowing that in just one week of being back in school, cases were already appearing,” Backer said. “I was kind of uneasy about it. It’s scary to deal with the fact that you can’t necessarily control if you get COVID from another student. It’s terrifying to even think about how students are putting themselves and their family members at risk coming into school, when some people’s lives are more at risk than others.”
She said the current precautions and protocols in place at South have been both good and bad to help mitigate the risk. The cohorts, for example, have been confusing, she said, but they do help with contact tracing.
“I think (the effectiveness of the precautions) depends on how they’re being used,” Backer said. “The shields are great to enforce distancing, but many teachers– in- cluding in my own classes– don’t require them. The hallway lines aren’t super effective, as kids still bunch together. (Even with these) in place, I don’t think in the slightest bit it’s a good idea to enforce full face-to-face in March. Yes, vaccines are being distributed, but it’s still going to be a long time until we can actually go back to our idea of normal.”
Current parent in the district Kelly Fordon, who has a senior at South, agreed with Backer on the issue of returning to face-to-face in March as proposed by the Grosse Pointe School Board, emphasizing the need for respectful discussions from all members of the community.
“I know we are all coming at this from different angles, (and as a parent), I feel like this is our moment to model respectful dialogue for our kids,” Fordon said. “I feel like that begins with each person asking themselves a few questions: how can we move forward with these plans and do the least harm? What happens if my assessment of the COVID-19 risk turns out to be wrong? How many people will be harmed then? Why are others viewing this situation differently? What is happening in their lives that is driving their decision-making? If we keep in mind everyone’s different viewpoints, we should consider what conclusions we can come to that will benefit the most people now and into the future.”
Backer said in general, her ex- perience with COVID and with the district’s protocols and process was a little chaotic, due to how early it happened in hybrid learning. She said she urges students to contin- ue doing their best to follow the CDC guidelines and minimize the spread.
“For me, I just hope students will do their part in social distancing,” Backer said. “I know I can’t control how–or if– students practice it, but I just hope to see masks worn correctly, no partying and safety from students and teachers, especially if they’re traveling over the break. Please do your part– I want to be out of this pandemic as much as you all do.”
NW-05. News Analysis
Stories should be interpretive in nature, not straight news stories. The elements “why” and “how” should be examined through research, but the writer’s opinions should not be expressed. An analysis covers issues and problems that relate to specific events of a news nature. Submit a PDF of the print page(s) on which the story was published or the URL to the story on an online news site.
JUDGING CRITERIA
- Sharp, attention-getting lead that underscore the why/how elements of the news
- Clarifies the news elements, i.e. timeliness, nearness, impact and prominence
- Clarifies through research the background necessary to understand current news
- Develops an understanding of the issues/problems through interviews with varied and balanced sources
- Avoids personal opinion unless properly attributed
- Sentences, paragraphs of varied length, written clearly, concisely and vividly
- Effective use of facts/quotes from both primary and secondary sources
- Proper diction/grammar; use of third person