Liz

Liz is a second-year undergraduate student. She is the daughter of an immigrant and a refugee. “I was really frustrated with the university, because I felt they made their decision based on the assumption that everyone has a stable home to go to, a home they wanna go to, which is definitely not true.” Interview…

Andrea

Andrea is a high school art teacher and senior advisor. “I don’t always hear from these kids. And it’s scary. It is very scary, even their artwork. I can’t display all the artwork that they’re doing right now on this website I’m doing because a lot of it is starting to get really dark.” Interview…

Jo

Jo is a systems engineer that currently works as an instructor for Code in the Schools, a non-profit organization serving the Baltimore City Public Schools System. They are queer, Black, and Christian. “Being able to tell stories and the art of storytelling and the art of building relationships…and actually starting that healing process [is something]…

Melissa

Melissa is an elementary school teacher in Rockville, Maryland. She has been teaching for over ten years. “It’s a matter of equity too. Some children have a lot of support and they’re going to get through this without a lot of issues and then children who are struggling- struggling learners- you know that’s going to…

Mike

Mike is a professor of English at the University of Maryland, College Park, and a screenplay writer for TV and movies. “If the world wants to get better, it has to have better education, for a lot more people. We have generations to get done.” Interview highlights: “If the world wants to get better, it…

Shabnam

Shabnam is a mother to an elementary school boy and a middle school girl. She has been working from home since the start of quarantine. “So, that’s the challenge I have from the work, on top of it, the kids are home…this is the nightmare part…the first two weeks I cry a couple of times,…

Amanda

Amanda* is a 5th grade teacher for students with learning disabilities at a county elementary school in Maryland. “The biggest challenge is getting students to show up.” *Pseudonym provided by the interviewee. Interview highlight: “It’s been a little rough trying to get people to get online. We’re trying to figure out things like learning plans,…

Andrew

Andrew Collins is the Assistant Principal of Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, a private Catholic school, in Olney, Maryland. “On Friday, before we left, we had three different training rooms, for teachers who were either fairly comfortable, fairly advanced with Google classroom and other iPad devices and apps, other people were kind of…

Katy

Katy is a frontline workers (music teacher) who lives in Riverdale, Maryland. She is thirty-five years old. “I don’t feel like a hero. I wanted to quit because I don’t have childcare, but we needed the paycheck. It’s been frustrating that my role has completely shifted, but that I’m still attempting to teach.” We are…

Jeremy

Jeremy is a college student at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. “Being together as a family, that helped. That’s been nice. I mean, it was already hard enough that we couldn’t go visit [my grandfather in the hospital]…If [my sister] was still in Oklahoma and I was in Baltimore, that would be…