2020_06_Blues_Final_Reduced

C O V I D C H R O N I C L E S
PHOTOGRAPHS: (GW BRIDGE) GEORGE STEINMETZ; (ROLLISON) LAURA MOSS
JERSEY CITY // Days of Fear, a Lifetime of Gratitude
Noted aerial
photograper George
Steinmetz caught
this eastbound view
of the empty toll
booths at the Fort
Lee approach to the
George Washington
Bridge at 7:43 pm
on Tuesday, April
14. Typically, the
bridge would still
be packed with
commuters heading
home to Jersey. ✤
A week before Easter Sunday, Jersey City resident Rich Rollison, 68, came down with a range
of symptoms: aches, chills and a deep cough. Within 48 hours, he made the short walk from his
home to Christ Hospital, where he lay on a gurney in an ER hallway for 14 hours until a room was
available. A few days later, Rollison’s Covid-19 test came back positive. “I’ve never felt so bad in
my life,” he says. “I would literally just lay and stare at the ceiling for hours and listen to all the
sounds of disaster around me.”
Released after six days, Rollison calls the six-day hospital stay a “life-changing experience.” He
will be forever grateful to his health care workers. “They’re risking their lives to go to work every
day,” he says. “Everyone was so kind and upbeat, and I really appreciated it, because I was scared.”
Rollison says he is surprised to see some people not following social-distancing guidelines. “I
was really careful. I wore gloves and masks everywhere,” he says. “It just amazes me that people
aren’t taking it more serious.”—Shelby Vittek
NUTLEY //
Teacher
Reveals a
Silver Lining
As a first-grade teacher at
Nutley’s Washington School
for 16 years, Kristen Fazio
knows the importance of
being adaptable. That skill
came in handy during the
speedy transition to remote
teaching in mid-March.
On the last day of inschool
instruction, Fazio and
her colleagues scrambled
to brief their students on
Schoology, a virtual learning
system. The teachers
were also navigating new
territory: how to simulate
the classroom environment
from afar.
“That’s the difficult thing
with this,” says Fazio. “You
have to meet their needs,
but it’s hard to through
the computer.” Suddenly,
parents or guardians had
to play larger roles. Fazio’s
6- and 7-year-old students
need an adult’s help using
the computer and completing
work. For a teacher, that
means being more flexible.
The virtual school day runs
9:30 am-noon and 2–3 pm,
but Fazio fields e-mails and
phone calls after hours from
working parents.
Brainstorming with
fellow teachers has eased
the adjustment to distance
learning. “I’m grateful for the
good teamwork,” she says.
Raz-Kids, an online
guided-reading program, has
been a lifesaver. Through the
program, students record
themselves reading, and
teachers offer feedback.
Another useful tool: Google
Meet, a video-conferencing
service that gives Fazio’s 20
students the opportunity to
see each other and Fazio.
The lockdown, says
Fazio, “has become a learning
experience for everybody.
That’s the little silver
lining.” —JK
JUNE 2020 NEW JERSEY MONTHLY 55