'Students Have Won The Pandemic,' Says One Local Vice Principal

One year ago today, Governor Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency in Massachusetts due to the spread of the coronavirus. Now, GBH News is taking a look at some of the ways the pandemic has changed our lives. GBH Morning Edition host Joe Mathieu spoke with Everett High School Vice Principal Cory McCarthy about how the school has adapted to changes throughout the year, and how students have responded. The transcript below has been edited for clarity.

Joe Mathieu: We've heard a bit from students this hour [about] how they feel about this past year and where we are exactly. As an educator, you've also been put to the test in a lot of different ways this year. School schedules were changed, guidelines constantly evolving, new platforms, educators overhauling the way they teach and in many ways still learning. How hard has it been?

Cory McCarthy: It has been difficult. This is my first year at Everett. My previous school in Boston, I started the pandemic with them and now I'm in the pandemic at another school — two different schools, two different plans. But the best thing about it has been my experience. One thing I've learned throughout this process, somebody told me once, a very wise person said, "employers, all they care about their employees is problem solving, communication, transparency and flexibility." And I was like, "yeah, right. You need this X, Y, Z." But it's true, and that's really what it's taken so far for us to be successful in trying to get our kids ready to escape the pandemic. Was it difficult? Absolutely. We had to be super innovative — go into houses, social distancing, dropping off food, dropping off tech, making calls at unconventional times and hours, showing up in places that people don't normally see educators and vice principals as well. And I think at this point, kids just want to be seen and they just want to be heard. Families want to be felt and they want us to deliver. So by doing that, we feel like we have been able to execute a plan where folks feel that they are in the forefront of our brains and the work is centered around the students and the families.

Mathieu: You hear references to 'the lost year.' The Commissioner of Education here in Mass. says he believes we've failed a generation of students in the Commonwealth and around the country. Those are pretty heavy words. Do you agree with that?

WATCH: 'I believe the students have won the pandemic.'

Mathieu: I'm really glad you said that because I'm a parent with a student at home and I have a lot of concerns about the impact on mental health, not being able to be around your colleagues, watching students trail off, staring at a laptop screen. But that's the traditional stuff I'm talking about, right?

McCarthy: Yes, 100 percent. I think we have to approach things differently, right? We are fighting for the same routines. And we fight for the same routine — it's like a computer — when you invite new data into the equation, the algorithm gets thrown off. We just needed to really rework and build a new algorithm that everybody's invested in. And now, if you think about it, when kids return to school and then a kid is having a tough mental health day because they feel like they need to be around their home to have some sort of environmental confidence in the house, you can say to a student, hopefully, "hey, you know what? We are recording. You could go and take a couple of days to get your mental health in order. I could send the school counselors to call. I could come to your house and sit and talk to you as well."

Mathieu: We need a new algorithm.

McCarthy: Yes.

Mathieu: I'm not sure exactly what that algorithm's going to look like, but the next thing that we'll do is bring students back into classrooms. How important is that, and are you worried about that?

McCarthy: Not worried at all. The best thing about kids is that they have the ability to teach you more about yourself as an educator than any book has. We see ourselves in kids, and when you don't have kids, you're only seeing yourself. So their absence puts us in a deficit, so them returning physically now is rewiring things for me where I could just have more energy because I could tangibly see what's on the line when I see them. From a personal world perspective, having the kids come back will be outstanding. And I know they can't wait to come back, but we just have to be ready and we have to be open-minded about how we perceive them, and most importantly, deliver on all the things that we said we're going to do.

Mathieu: It sounds like you have the right job, Cory.

McCarthy: Yeah, some folks would disagree, but it's OK.

Mathieu: There's always someone who disagrees.

McCarthy: It's going to require a lot of change, and if you're an educator, people tell you that they are ready for change — and this is a lot of change, the pandemic — but they're not ready to see it and feel it. So we've got to make sure our teachers are prepared for this mentally as well.

Mathieu: What a refreshing and optimistic outlook. I'm lucky that we could spend some time together. Cory McCarthy, the Vice Principal of Everett High School, good luck with the rest of this year and thanks for doing what you do.