By Yasmine Mezawi and Jaylyn Gonzalez

As the number of coronavirus cases reported in Florida continues to rise, Floridians have entered a stage of shock and hysteria: Florida is now preparing for the worse.

But while people are just now venturing to stores to buy sanitation products and prepapare for community spread, Miami Lakes Educational Center (MLEC) and M-DCPS have been preparing for this for a while now.

At MLEC and M-DCPS, the safety of students in light of this disease comes first.

For weeks now, MLEC begun implementing hand sanitizer stations in front of school lunch lines and reminding jaguars every day through morning announcements to wash their hands. M-DCPS also took precautionary steps, proving schools with more hanitizing products and distributing paper works to see how many devices are needed to pass out in the case that schools closed—which is a reality we are now facing.

These preventions, of course, have been necessary against the highly contagious COVID-19, which is a respiratory illness that spreads with contact but can be prevented by the religious washing of hands. Having similar symptoms as the flu, COVID-19’s most notable symptoms are fever, coughing, sore throat and shortness of breath.

There are currently five reported cases in Miami-Dade County, there are currently over 100 cases and counting in Florida– making it the fifth largest state in the U.S. with this pandemic.

In Miami-Dade County, mass chaos has gone throughout grocery stores and possibilities of closing school grounds. As per the Superintendent, Alberto Carvalho, meeting last Thursday, much negotiations continued in the making of this decision. That day, he concluded that schools will plan to remain open until further notice — except for internships.

“What we are bringing to a halt, is internships,” he announced.

Even though he still planned on keeping schools open for the following week, he made it mandatory for schools to hand out devices for at-home “distance learning” for precaution in the case that he changes his decision.

The following day, however, Carvalho made the announcement to close down schools from March 16th until the end of spring break after his careful consideration with health officials keeping the well-being of students, employees, and the community their number one priority. 

Now, MLEC is working towards providing a safe social distancing approach to teaching for the remainder of the week until spring break. Jaguars are to complete at-home assignments and follow up with teachers online—including in platforms such as Edmodo, Remind, Microsoft team, etc.

In order to facilitate continuous instruction, pls refer to chart to confirm teacher availability & communication. We are available to assist. Students needing devices may continue to pick up at school, tomorrow. #InstructionalContinuityPlan https://t.co/kLjEz7t5eg pic.twitter.com/Wv0Fv9cxo9

— MLEC (@MLECJaguars) March 15, 2020

MLEC is providing technology pick-ups at the school site too for those students who don’t have access to digital devices, and the district partnered with Comcast so that low-income families can get access to internet for free for 90 days. As well as looking out for the safety of their students, they have also provided hot “to-go” meals at M-DCPS schools from 9 am to 12 pm for any family who is in need.

But at MLEC, even at times of pandemic, the relentless support of teachers continue to foster a sense of normalcy. Ms. Helena Castro, our school’s Activity Director, for instance, even made a self-recorded video of today’s morning announcement—something that she plans on keeping throughout the week. Other teachers such as English Department Chair Neyda Borges, also uploaded clips of themselves to cheer up their students and create the sense of continuity.

https://t.co/ixIa4LYDs8?amp=1

Although taking precautionary measures, MLEC always has the safety of its staff and students at mind. In this 14-day quarantine period, administrators are hoping for the continuation of online teaching and learning in order to have a flawless transition when school begins again.