Magnificat's Pandemic Response

Education in the Time of COVID-19

When students, faculty, and staff left the building the afternoon of March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they thought they would be returning in a few weeks, after spring break. As the weeks went on, and as in-person classes were canceled for the remainder of the school year, all eyes were set on fall. How would we begin the new school year? How would the pandemic change the way we deliver a holistic education to students? What would school look like in the fall? The pandemic and the guidance around it continues to evolve, so the Magnificat Leadership Team spent the summer creating three scenarios for the first semester of the 2020-2021 school year: in-person; hybrid; and online. These learning scenarios were developed with a number of goals in mind, including maximizing the amount of time Students have been provided Magnificat-branded face masks, and signage has been posted throughout the building reminding students spend at school, the ability to seamlessly students, faculty, and staff about COVID-19 best practices. transition from one learning scenario to another as necessary, and most importantly, continuing to deliver to meet, but those meetings may be conducted virtually on our Mission of providing students with a holistic based on the size of the group at the discretion of the faculty education. or staff Moderator. Magnificat Athletics will continue to follow To that end, the same modified pandemic version of the the guidance of the Ohio High School Athletic Association. seven-day rotation schedule that was introduced last One of the hallmarks of a Magnificat education is the school year will be deployed regardless of which learning community we create for students and families. The scenario is necessitated by current COVID-19 data and pandemic has presented us with an opportunity to be guidance, which will allow faculty, staff, and students creative in how we deliver these time-honored traditions continuity as they navigate a landscape that remains fluid. during an unprecedented time. We look forward to sharing A team of Magnificat faculty and staff examined the with you the ways in which we innovatively cultivate student experience from all angles this summer and put community when physical gathering must be limited as we into place new practices that will help mitigate the spread get into the school year. of COVID-19. For example, the new HVAC system that was While the start of the 2020-2021 school year will be as installed in 2019 not only heats and cools but also purifies unusual as the end of the last school year, we had the benefit the air continuously. Students, faculty, and staff will wear of the summer to evaluate what went well and what could facial coverings (with exceptions for documented medical have been improved with online learning last semester as conditions). Spaces across campus are being maximized in well as to research and develop new practices for in-person order to maintain appropriate social distancing, particularly learning in the time of COVID-19. The plan for the first as it relates to lunch and unscheduled time in a student’s day. semester is grounded in both the public health guidance we Additionally, water fountains will be turned off, and students receive and continue to follow from the Ohio Department will be encouraged to bring their own reusable water bottles of Education, the Ohio Department of Health, the Diocese which can be filled at touchless water bottle filling stations of Cleveland, and Governor DeWine’s office as well as in our throughout the building. Co-curricular activities will continue Mission of providing a holistic education to our students.

The Magnificat Community Responds to COVID-19

The words “learn,” “lead,” and “serve” are significant to the Magnificat community always, but they become even more important in times of crisis; and when faced with a global pandemic, the Magnificat community heeded the call to learn, lead, and serve in many ways. The next few pages demonstrate the ways in which students, parents, faculty and staff members, alumnae, and friends have made an impact on their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mary Cachat Papa ’79 Rocky River, OH In March, Performing Arts Costume Designer, Mary Papa is happy to have a way to help out.” Mary delivered pre-cut usually leading a group of students in costume design and pieces for them to sew together, and when they were finished, production as they prepare to outfit the cast of Magnificat’s she picked them up to prepare for delivery. “We were blessed annual spring play. When COVID-19 forced the cancelation of to be able to stay home with our family while essential Magnificat’s production of Sense & Sensibility, Mary quickly workers continued to go to work each day,” Dana said. changed gears and began making non-medical masks to “Quinn and I were able to spend time together doing help prevent the spread of the virus. something meaningful. The masks didn’t look perfect but Armed with fabric, thread, and a sewing machine, Mary we hope that it made someone’s day a little better.” enlisted any and all members of the Magnificat community And the masks did make people’s days a little better. who wanted to join the effort. “I thought if I could keep Edwin Oley, President of Mercy Health in Lorain, wrote, students engaged and reconnect alumnae, this would be “I want to reach out and express our organization’s gratitude a great way for Magnificat to help and give back to the for your donation of sewn masks during this unprecedented community,” she said. She delivered patterns and fabric time in our country and throughout our world. Our associates locally to those who wanted to help but could not get to the and clinicians who are on the front lines of battling this COVID store to purchase them, and she coached novices as they virus are likewise most appreciative of your thoughtfulness. learned how to sew the masks that would be delivered to Please know that your donation has been put to good use.” essential workers at Northeast Ohio hospitals. In all, Mary led more than 20 students, parents, alumnae, and Students (and parents) joined her in her quest. Dana McCabe friends in making nearly 1,500 masks for those on the front (mother of Claire ’19, Paige ’21), who together with her lines at the VA Hospital, Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, daughter, Quinn ’23, sewed over 100 masks, said “We had MetroHealth System, Akron Children’s Hospital, Malachi a sewing machine (not much skill, but we thought we could Center, and Ennis Court Assisted Living, among numerous figure it out together), lots of time on our hands, and we were other organizations.

Left to right: Lauren Ellis ’21 sewed over 70 masks for Northeast Ohio essential workers. Maggie ’23 and her mother, Leigh Erickson. Quinn ’23 and her mother, Dana McCabe. Lilia Stanton ’23 at her sewing station.

Isabella Chamberlain ’14 Dallas, TX

Isabella Chamberlain ’14 works with refugees to end food insecurities as the Coordinator of the food security and agriculture program, “New Roots,” for the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The IRC operates in the United States as a refugee resettlement agency. Isabella works with refugee clients in an urban agriculture training program. When asked what her favorite part of her job is, Isabella is quick to say that she loves being out on the farms with clients. She adds, “IRC clients are displaced from their homes due to conflict or dangerous living conditions, and many of them come from an agrarian background. Often, participating in New Roots is the first time clients are able to feel ownership over a space again. There is a wonderful sense of healing when clients are able to return to the land to feed their families.” Isabella credits Magnificat for inspiring her to choose a career of agricultural and social justice. According to Isabella, her dedication to this work began with her involvement in Magnificat’s Fair Trade Club. “I was immediately passionate about agricultural workers’ rights and the importance of agricultural practices that protect our environment.” Ms. Murphy’s AP Art History class also had a big impact on Isabella, of which she says, “The content of the class was beautiful. We were able to pull common themes from art of all different cultures. And, the discussions in that class went far beyond the scope of the AP exam.” Following graduation from Magnificat, Isabella volunteered on a mission trip to Lesvos, Greece, and it was on this trip that she was moved to work with refugee populations and new Americans. To this end, she studied plant science and earned a degree in sustainable food production at the University of Florida. Even though Bridget’s science classes and volunteer work at Cleveland Clinic in high school piqued her interest in medicine, her favorite Magnificat class was World Religions, which opened her eyes to the diversity of religious beliefs in the world. In fact, she minored in religious studies when she earned her B.S. in biology at Fairfield University in Connecticut. Bridget continued on to earn an M.S in Biomedical Science from the University of Toledo and her M.D. from St. George’s University.

“This job has changed my outlook on the human spirit. Refugees are the most resilient people in the world. The obstacles they’ve faced are too often unspeakable or unimaginable. When clients are able to share their stories with me, I am able to develop better programs to empower them. Their voices help me become a stronger asset to their community. Their resiliency strengthens America as a country.” The pandemic has made food access for disadvantaged Americans extremely difficult, and it has changed the way Isabella works and has shifted her day-to-day responsibilities. Working alone because of COVID-19 concerns, Isabella is harvesting, washing, and assembling bags of produce, which she distributes with other pantry staples at strategicallylocated spots around Dallas. “I know that jobs like mine have never been this important. I am driven by the strength I see in the client I serve, and I am supported by countless community members that see the importance in this work,” explains Isabella.

Bridget Gallagher, MD ’02 (Brooklyn, NY)

To learn more about Isabella’s work, visit www.rescue.org. Today, Bridget is a Gastroenterology and Hepatology fellow at SUNY Downstate Medical Center (State University of New York), and she has experienced the pandemic in an up close and personal way. She readily admits she was sometimes fearful as her gastroenterology fellowship work stopped, and she was redeployed to take care of COVID patients. “During the height of the pandemic, all four of the hospitals that I work at in Brooklyn each had 100-200 COVID positive patients and each [had] two or three morgue trailers outside.”

But Bridget notes that the pandemic also brought with it beautiful humanity—encouragement, support, and collaboration. Though her once bustling city screeched to a still and silent halt and there were long days working with very ill patients, she recalls the “7 p.m. cheers” that resounded throughout the city in support of health care workers and first responders, and the hundreds of pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) her fiancé collected for the residents and fellows. Each donated piece of PPE included notes of encouragement and thanks. “I keep these notes along with cards from friends and family on our entry table, and seeing these each day provides me with little boosts of encouragement, gratitude, and joy as I head into the hospital.” Bridget says her job has changed her for the better. “Taking care of patients with chronic medical conditions and during acute illness has made me especially grateful for my health and the health of my loved ones. Being healthy, it is easy to forget that our health is paramount and access to healthcare should be a right for all, not a privilege. Eliza Kaminski ’00 Cleveland, OH Newly graduated from Ursuline College as a nurse practitioner in February 2020, Eliza took a job as a traveling nurse to help out in Livingston, New Jersey at St. Barnabas Medical Center where nurses were desperately needed. Approximately 50 percent of their nursing staff had tested positive for COVID-19, and roughly the same percentage of the maternity patients there had tested positive for the virus as well. Each day, Eliza left her long shifts, passing the refrigerated truck stationed outside the hospital to store bodies, and went “home” to her solitary life in a hotel room where she lived for weeks. She exercised extreme caution to avoid bringing the virus home to her hotel room—leaving the sterile scrubs the hospital provided at work, only using one outfit of clothing for going back and forth to work, and leaving work shoes outside the door before entering her room to shower off the day. Being a stranger among exhausted and weary healthcare

Even though Bridget’s hospital is slowly returning to the “new normal” of telephone and virtual visits with patients and limited medical procedures, she is concerned for the rest of the country and hopes that “people put others first and continue to wear masks/face coverings when out in public as well as take steps to socially distance so that the

situation doesn’t continue to worsen.”

workers presented its own challenges, but one of her supervisors took Eliza under her wing to provide support and encouragement. Friends and family also helped to keep her spirits up. Regardless of the intensity, Eliza said she loves taking care of patients, and this pandemic has shown her the resiliency of the human spirit. “I love seeing the patients’ faces when they come through difficult circumstances. It helped me to be stronger to deal with the losses, to grow as a person, and to understand the other side of life. You have to be strong for them.” Eliza credits Magnificat for preparing her so well that college courses at The Ohio State University were easy, but it was the relationships with faculty and staff like Mrs. Colleen Neville and Miss Betty Dabrowski that helped to shape who she has become. She and science teacher, Betty Dabrowski, who attended Eliza’s wedding, had a special bond because of their shared Polish language and heritage. And Eliza laughs as she recounts months of lunches with the Dean of Students, Mrs. Jodi Campbell, as a consequence for sneaking off campus, and she grew very fond of her time with Mrs. Campbell. She is grateful for it all. Eliza is happy to be back in Cleveland and is pursuing work as a family nurse practitioner. When asked what she wants everyone to know about her work or the pandemic, she said simply, “Be vigilant and careful…”