LWA Antics

Focusing on vibrancy, hoping for a maskless future

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It is June of 2021, and Lawrence Woodmere Academy seniors are gathered on stage at Hessel Hall, in unity, and without masks to receive their high school diploma. There are smiling family, friends and faculty in the crowd clapping and thunderously cheering for the graduating class.

It’s beautiful, it’s memorable and most important, it is a world post-Covid. We are free to breathe mask less. We can show off our beautiful smiles. We are celebrating our accomplishments. Some of us have been attending LWA since we were 6- years-old, others have joined along the way. We are the LWA class of 2021 and we are going great places thanks to the fantastic faculty and community that is LWA.

So, what you just read is my attempt to get your attention to shift to the future, albeit not so far away. Since March, and even prior in other parts of the world, we have been controlled by the pandemic. The ability to leave your house just to get simple essentials such as groceries has become scary, stressful and exhausting.

Businesses are shutting down and the economy is unstable. We are all tired and fed up with hearing, talking, and thinking about Covid-19. We need a new start!  We have been spending too much energy on living with Covid and making countless plans that have to continuously shift depending on what the Covid level is, and it is truly exhausting.

I have given a lot of thought as to how to entertain and inform you this week with my article, but frankly, I am at a loss for ideas. Remote learning, in school learning, a perfect blending of the two - who cares. It is old news now. The new news is, how are we going to adapt to our new world of socialization post Covid? Will Covid just be a speck on the timeline of the world’s history in just a few years? Or will it forever change the way we socialize and live?

These are fabulous questions to ponder and get our imaginations thrown into a higher gear. It is times like these that have led the great inventors of the world to invent!  The old phrase “necessity is the mother of invention” couldn’t be truer. Countless learning is coming out of the pandemic. We have reengineered many things and the pandemic has prompted new vibrancy at LWA. (Check out “Adapting to new learning method amid Covid,” Nov. 4 for the schools’ updates.)

Part of making the switch evolving to a post-Covid world era is finding a way to start. At LWA, we used Thanksgiving to reflect on what we are grateful for given the unprecedented and tragic times of Covid. Interestingly students were grateful for things they previously would have taken for granted.

In a sense, it seems Covid permitted us to get back to basics. Senior Blake Pomerantz said: “I am happy just being able to go into school and see my peers. With or without the restrictions, I will never get frustrated over a commodity. Whether it’s education, socializing, or playing sports, I will use my memories of Covid to take a second and just appreciate the moment.” 

So put your imagination cap on, let your thoughts soar and let’s focus on the future. Happy holidays. Stay healthy, be safe, and remain Long Island strong.