Surreal. That word keeps coming up. A few days ago (was it really only two days ago?) Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers took the reins and declared a state of emergency. Covid19, the illness caused by the novel Coronavirus, was moving along and spreading quickly – much too quickly. He ordered schools closed, both public and private. Many universities and colleges had already extended their spring breaks indefinitely to minimize contact. And now, the same falls to Kindergarten through grade 12.

Amigo’s spring show was postponed and rehearsals cancelled until further notice. Many members of the chorus are in high risk groups for the new virus – elderly, heart conditions, weakened immune systems, and I’m sure more diagnoses than I know about. It was a heartbreak for Amigo, and I know others were devastated, too.

All these actions are for good reason. the novel Corona virus spreads through contact and droplet infection, and the strongest defense against that is to minimize contact with other people. If someone sneezes and I’m nearby, I could inhale the droplets from their sneeze. If someone coughs into their hand and then opens a door with that same hand, I could open the door and transfer that virus to my own system.

I go to school as scheduled tomorrow. I teach online already, so there might (knock on wood) be few changes in my own setting. We don’t need to create new structures or schedules. We did have to cancel field trips and testing dates. The standardized state tests haven’t been removed from our curriculum, but we had to cancel the “nonessential travel” for teachers who would have traveled to our testing sites. As an online school, our students are all over the state. To administer the state test, we look at a map and go to our students. We set up testing sites in hotels, libraries, and technical colleges so we can test the kids near their homes. All that, now, is cancelled. We don’t know when or if we’ll get it set up again.

So tomorrow I go to school as usual, but nothing will be typical. I might teach my classes, I might make my scheduled phone calls, and I know I’ll answer many emails, but I have a feeling this school day will feel anything but normal.