2021 PROGRESS EDITION
Sunday, February 28, 2021 www.wcfcourier.com/progress | Waterloo | Cedar Falls
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pandemic swept the globe in 2020, leaving no community untouched, including the Cedar Valley. Perseverance has been the story of our community this past year as we made our way through unprecedented hardship and tragedy. This year’s Progress Edition highlights how our community pulled together in the face of loss, lockdowns and closures. It celebrates how businesses and industries pivoted to survive and thrive. As we look ahead in 2021, we can proudly say we persevered. We endured. We kept moving forward. That is, and always has been, the story of the Cedar Valley.
INNOVATION
Educators ensure safe learning ANDREW WIND
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andrew.wind@wcfcourier.com
ATERLOO — For the past year, social distancing has been key to a safe approach in education as people deal with COVID-19. As students returned to in-person classes last fall across the Cedar Valley, parents had the option of virtual learning for their children. Schools developed plans for those who were physically present to spread out and separate students in a way that minimized risks. Post-secondary institutions similarly set up classrooms with more space, moving some learning online. But Hawkeye Community College’s dental clinic, as a learning lab for future dental assistants and hygienists, has continued getting in the face of patients since reopening June 15. To do it safely, students wear personal protective equipment, taking precautions that are largely the same as what they’ve always done. Masks, hairnets and face shields are routine. An N95 respirator is necessary whenever they are exposed to aerosols, fine liquid droplets that can carry the coronavirus. That is particularly a risk when the air-driven tools used in the clinic are operating. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has long recommended the measures for dental workers. Emily Boge, who oversees the dental clinic and is
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CHRIS ZOELLER PHOTOS, COURIER STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Payton Bamrick, a dental hygiene student at Hawkeye Community College, works on a patient in the dental clinic on Feb. 11.
“I guess if there’s a silver lining that came out of COVID, it’s that people are paying attention to infection control.” chairwoman of Hawkeye’s health sciences department, said the respirators are the only thing the clinic added to its requirements due to COVID-19. “The CDC came out in 2003 with these recommendations,” she noted. Many health professionals didn’t fully implement the measures and the general public had little awareness of them. “So, I guess if there’s a silver lining that came out of COVID, it’s that people are paying
attention to infection control.” Other precautions are also taken before patients can be seen at the clinic, which is open to the general public. When making an appointment, they go through COVID-19 pre-screening questions on the phone and again upon arrival at the clinic, where their temperatures are taken. The waiting room has been expanded, with patients sitting in chairs that are 10 feet apart. Patients are rescreened if someone who had been seen on the same day contacts the clinic about a positive test. Boge said the dental program “basically hit a giant pause button” on its labs in March due to the pandemic. Classes began online March 23. When the Iowa Den-
tal Board gave permission in June to reopen for the hands-on training “then we had solid clinics and labs” until July 9 followed by student testing for certification. “I’m grateful we’re still able to be in clinics,” said Abbey Shroyer, who will graduate in May from the dental hygienist program. She noted, though, that “it has been kind of challenging” to get as many patients for the students to work on. COVID-19 restrictions have kept students from other hands-on educational activities, including in some classes. Online learning remains a challenge. “I think the Zoom classes have been the hardest,” said Shroyer. She was relieved to have gotten vaccinated along with her classmates as es-
sential medical workers. “We’ll get our second round soon,” she said. “So, I’m pretty excited about being totally covered.” It’s not only the dental clinic and labs where Hawkeye students have continued coming to campus for their learning. That has been important across all career and technical programs. “What we’ve done is all of our hands-on courses have remained in-person,” said Dione Somerville, the college’s executive vice president. Classes that have moved to virtual learning during the past year have “always been more of the liberal arts, lecture-based courses.” Hawkeye has embraced a “variety of options to meet the needs of all our students,” she noted. Those who are in person use masks and physical distancing. There are also hybrid classes, including both in-person and online. Other classes have been virtual when needed. Some students are able to go completely to online learning due to life circumstances or concerns with COVID-19. So far this academic year, 17.5% of learning has been totally online. At the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, 20% of classes are being taught fully online, which Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Patrick Pease noted is double the 10% typically offered. Fully in-person classes still account for 72% of the total with the remaining 8% in a hybrid format. Please see EDUCATION, Page H2