While the future remains uncertain for Timpview concerning Covid 19, its delta variant, and whatever else may come, there are many things about this year that we are sure of: we have vaccines for Covid, as well as all the knowledge and experience we gained from last year.
The vaccines have been a popular subject all over the world, not just at Timpview. It’s hard to deny that the vaccines have had a very positive impact in helping life return back to normal– for the most part.. In an interview the journalism staff conducted with the school nurse, we asked, “[Do you think] it’s unlikely for the school to ever shut down again?” She answered, “Yeah I do. At this point I would say that.” This is great news for Timpview students and teachers who have been concerned about the school shutting down again. She explained that this is largely in part due to all the knowledge and experience we gained last year on how to handle the pandemic. The vaccine has also been very helpful. The CDC estimates that people who have been vaccinated are 8 times less likely to become infected than those that aren’t. In the event that the number of covid cases at Timpview did reach above 2% of the student population (50 students), the school will enact a Test to Stay policy, requiring all students who are able to test negative before going to school. The nurse said she believes that students who have been vaccinated will not need to do this. Regardless, it seems very unlikely that we will ever reach that point as the current estimate for positive covid cases at Timpview is 9, which is less than a fifth of the threshold (great job Timpview!).
By no means are all our questions answered yet. Among the queries we have yet to resolve is the controversial question of the last year: should the vaccine be mandated? In an interview with Ms. Fry concerning her thoughts on vaccine mandates, she expressed, “My opinion on the vaccine is not negative in general, you know the vaccine has a really good purpose you know, we have the data to back that up. I just don’t like that the vaccines have become such a political issue and that people are being denied certain things if they don’t get vaccinated.” When interviewing some Timpview students, they echoed similar stances on the issue. The school currently has no plans to mandate the vaccine, although the nurse did show us that the school now has a field on PowerSchool where they can enter the dates of students’ covid shots, similar to how they keep track of flu shots. They are not currently collecting that information, though.
These past years have been some of the most chaotic times in recent Timpview history, but thanks to all the hard work of Timpview’s administration we’ve done a pretty good job of keeping it under control. As time goes on, we will continue to learn more about covid and the vaccine, and how best to handle things for all the students at Timpview High School. Thank you Timpview, for being a place open to everyone.
