A Florida teacher wrote a ridiculous obituary for herself in protest of the state’s plan to open schools in the fall amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Education Commissioner’s commission issued an executive order requiring all schools to open “at least” five days in the fall for “at least”, subject to all advice and instructions from state and local health departments.
“We have a moral imperative to do our absolute BEST to return #FLschools to full operation,” the State Department of Education said in a tweetje on July 8th. “Our education of children and our economy all depend on us to create a collaborative effort to reopen our school campuses.”
The state’s largest teachers’ union, the Florida Education Association, said the ordinance is a constitutional mandate to fight to “keep public schools safe and secure” and has called for a blockade.
Meanwhile, teacher Whitney Reddick of Jacksonville, Florida, expressed her concern about the safety risks of schools again by posting a mock obituary for themselves on Facebook.
“With deep sadness, I announce the passing of Whitney Leigh Reddick,” it begins. “She left us alone in isolation and on a ventilator at Duval County Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida.”
Reddick, 33, went on to talk about her family, including her 14-month-old son, and wrote, “He’ll have a hole that only a few kids can carry.”
“She fought vigorously for things she believed in,” the obituary continues. “She stood up against injustice, embraced those who were different from her, and really listened when she spoke to her. Whitney never took the easy path, she was assertive, with strong will and boss, she loved that word, for them, female leadership means. “
It ends by saying that Reddick “succumbed to the ignorance of those in power.”
“She came back to work, did her best to place all the roles that were placed on her shoulders; teacher, COVID security guard, human shield, firefighter, social worker, nurse and caregiver, but the work pressure weakened her, and the virus took hold, “it reads.
Reddick told NBC News in a telephone interview on Saturday that she decided to write the obituary after reading stories from teachers who contracted the virus and some who died, including a teacher from the summer school in Arizona.
“It was an overwhelming grief,” she said. “It just stayed with me that I might not die, but someone will. For me, someone who does something to serve their community and has a serving heart, I do not want to lose that person.”
She said the teacher’s goal was to highlight the concerns many teachers have about returning to classes in person in the midst of the pandemic.
“I wanted to portray that sadness … and be introspective and think about the choices our legislators make,” she explained. “I really wanted the gravity of their decisions to weigh.”
Reddick said that after talking to her husband, she decided to return when her school opened on August 20, which she said was a difficult choice.
“As much as I feel strongly about the attitude I have taken, when students return to a face-to-face setting, I will be there to make sure they have the best possible education in the safest environment possible.” “I can predict,” she said.
Reddick said she has already begun planning how she will try to keep her class safe and enable students for social distance.
In Iowa, several teachers also wrote their own obituaries and sent them to Gov. Kim Reynolds, who announced in July that students from public schools should return at least half to class.
“I wrote my objections just to point out that Kim Reynolds had no plan and knew nothing,” Jeremy Dumkreiger, a Sioux City teacher, told NBC branch KWWL in Waterloo. “I hope God does not use it and I don ‘I do not expect, but it’s just one of those things I want people to think about. This is serious.”
‘What if one of those kids gets COVID and takes it to grandma or her parents and that parent dies. Can you imagine the stress and trauma that someone will cause? he added. “I can not imagine that this learning environment is conducive to learning, and I think we need to hire more advisors.”
