BAKER CITY HERALD — 5A
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2020
FORMER BAKER COUNTY RESIDENT HAS LIVED IN ITALY SINCE 2012
Story Miller’s coronavirus chronicle
Editor’s Note: This is the
fi fth installment of the diary
that Story Miller, who grew
up in Richland, is writing
from her home in Italy, where
she has lived since 2012 with
her Italian husband, En-
rico Pizzetti. The couple have
a 3-year-old daughter, Lamia.
The four earlier installments,
published in April and July,
are available at www.baker-
cityherald.com. Miller wrote the
following in late July.
Over the last two weeks,
things have, for the most
part, returned to normal.
Businesses are open (well,
those that didn’t close down
because of the lockdown),
people are shopping, stores
are stocked as if nothing had
ever happened, and agricul-
tural activities have most of
the manual workforce back
and ready for the upcoming
harvests; in my area, it’s cur-
rently plums and pears.
Kids are attending sum-
mer day camps, the general
term for summer child care,
a popular and economical
choice. These activities run
from June to July and come
in weekly and monthly pack-
ages. They include classic
summer school (or credit
recovery), various sports,
church-sponsored activities,
and one of the most popular
choices, English camp, since
kids are required to learn two
additional languages (English
and then French/Spanish/
German) by the time they
complete middle school. The
only choice kids in my town
have is English and French.
Anyway, back to the con-
cept of things generally being
back to normal. Really, the
only real difference is that
sometimes we have to wait in
line a bit longer to maintain
the limit on how many people
can be in a store at once,
there is a bottle of hand sani-
tizer in every entryway, and
people are wearing masks.
The hand sanitizer varies
from locale to locale, some-
VIRUS
“A new cultural behavior is now emerging: Nobody
feels comfortable greeting others.”
— Story Miller, former Baker County resident
who has lived in Italy since 2012
we already confront these
issues? Can one’s beliefs
in right and wrong evolve?
Absolutely! And oftentimes,
it doesn’t have a side like we
tend to think, it’s just differ-
ent. Simple as that. I always
thought that I understood
this, but now I know that I
really didn’t fully understand
the effect evaluating deeply
rooted cultural norms would
have, especially on my blood
pressure, until I started living
in a different country. Travel-
ing helps one identify the
differences but until you actu-
ally integrate yourself into
a foreign culture, including
the linguistic integration, one
cannot fully understand the
struggle — I’ve only scratched
the surface.
Living abroad presents the
enlightenment and some-
times, unfortunately, shame
of understanding your own
culture’s identity. I can say
though that I have a new ap-
preciation of immigrants and
the struggles they must face,
both in culture and language
as they try to adapt. I feel my
blood pressure rise when I
hear people (in both Italy and
the USA) make comments
like, “My child shouldn’t
have to learn Spanish, they
(foreigners) need to learn
English,” (and trust me, for
polite purposes I have written
the word Spanish rather than
the more commonly used
derogatory terms referring
to those south of the United
States and please note I’m
not necessarily referring to
people I know residing in
Baker County).
A few other common com-
ments I hear, both in the USA
and Italy, include, “Learn
our language or get out,” or
“If you don’t like it, leave,”
and it makes me question,
are people around the world
The recent visit took place
outside, and Joyce Hunsaker
said the Meadowbrook staff re-
quired that everyone wear face
masks, and set up the chairs to
ensure proper distancing.
Hunsaker said she ap-
preciated both the chance to
visit with her mother, and the
safety protocols.
“Meadowbrook has been so,
so careful all along,” Hun-
saker said. “I’m convinced
that Meadowbrook is doing
everything possible to contain
whatever they’ve got.”
Hunsaker said that since
she received the text message
Sunday about the positive
case, Meadowbrook has ceased
allowing visits.
In her email to the Herald,
Badgley wrote that this week
Meadowbrook residents have
been staying in their rooms
— “confi ned to quarters,” she
wrote — and that other regu-
lations are in effect, including
residents having their meals
delivered to their rooms in
foam containers that are
discarded after use.
Hunsaker said Meadow-
brook staff, in addition to
wearing face masks, have been
wearing face shields for some
time, generally coinciding with
the increasing number of cases
in Baker County since late
June.
Hunsaker said her mother
has been tested for COVID-19
Submitted photo
Story Miller with her husband, Enrico Pizzetti, and their
daughter, Lamia.
times being more alcohol-
based and others consisting
of a slimy goo that seems
like it’ll never absorb. It gets
annoying to go from place to
place and put more sanitizer
on your hands, because you’ve
literally put it on fi ve minutes
ago and you haven’t touched
anything, but the mentality
is that we are all in this to-
gether and we all are willing
to do our little part to help
keep this virus at bay — one
just never knows which kind
of sanitizer they are going to
get next! I guess it’s almost
like Forrest Gump’s box of
chocolates.
March feels so distant in
many people’s memories but
the never-ending ambulance
sirens, the fatigued expres-
sions on the faces of our
neighbors who worked in
our overrun hospitals, and
the loss of our neighbors still
resounds. Most of us dutifully
wear our masks to help pro-
tect ourselves and others. The
resident of the assisted living
facility had tested positive for
Continued from Page 1A
COVID-19.
Kerns said she’s not aware of
In an email to the Herald
anyone in Baker County being on Friday, Badgley wrote that
treated for COVID-19 at Saint the Meadowbrook resident
Alphonsus Medical Center in
who was infected did not need
Baker City.
treatment in a hospital.
Joyce Hunsaker, whose
Hunsaker said she received
mother, Phyllis Badgley, lives the text message three days
at Meadowbrook Place in
after she and her husband,
Baker City, said she received a Dave, had their fi rst visit with
text message Sunday eve-
Badgley since her birthday in
ning notifying her that one
April.
ONLINE
gesture, futile as some may
believe, still represents a com-
mon viewpoint that a little
bit of extra consideration can
go a long way, and we squirt
another drop of sanitizer
on our seemingly already
sanitized hands. The other
part of the population carries
their mask with them, often
as an arm band, as a chin bra,
or wear the masks over the
mouth while the nose is stick-
ing out. I see rebellious senior
citizens not wearing them in
defi ance, and others, more
cautious. What is consistent
is that everybody means well,
has the desire to attempt to
respect the health of others,
and being Italian, simply hap-
hazardly following rules as if
they were mere suggestions,
like usual.
Additionally, a new cultural
behavior is now emerging:
Nobody feels comfortable
greeting others. There is that
awkward forward jolt result-
ing from the new and briefl y
forgotten rule to keep one’s dis-
tance and the instinctual Ital-
ian gesture of saying hello by
leaning in to place one’s cheek
on the other and making a
kissing sound (they don’t actu-
ally use lips to physically kiss
one another). Not ever being
much of a hugger, I, of course,
am thoroughly enjoying this
new social distancing rule in
this country, but the poor Ital-
ians are wrestling with feeling
incredibly rude and going
against their cultural code of
conduct, deeply ingrained in
each person since they were
old enough to say hello!
To better translate how
incredibly diffi cult this is, to
change a solid cultural norm,
think of it like this: As Ameri-
cans, we generally keep to our
generally accepted “personal
space bubble.” Now imagine
that in order to protect your
friends, you must do the
cheek-touching greeting. Yes,
that’s right, a local man doing
the cheek touch to the wife of
another, man to man, woman
to woman, child to adult.
Think of how awkward you
would feel. This is how diffi cult
and awkward it feels for Ital-
ians. It actually pushes a deep
boundary at the core of every
individual, just like the latter
might push your boundaries.
By the way, many people
ask me what living abroad is
like. While it does have some
elements of the fantasy some
of you may imagine, it also
makes one face their own
deeply embedded cultural
norms and forces one to evalu-
ate whether something is truly
right, wrong, or simply differ-
ent. Believe me, forcing oneself
to confront his or her values
in contrast to that of another
nation’s can be enraging while
other times enlightening.
Then again, could it also be
that even in our own country,
els, from advanced to a slower-paced
lower level for students needing
Continued from Page 1A
more help and also for students in
Mitchell said he’s seen improve-
special education classes, he said.
ments in the program’s appeal to
Last spring Acellus pared the
students and staff since he was
curriculum to the bare essentials
hired as BHS principal in 2016. He allowed by the state, and students
and Joseph attended a required
still were able to meet standards to
workshop in Kansas City in 2019 to earn credit for their courses, Joseph
learn more about the program.
said.
“They are continually changing
Through its diagnostic program,
the curriculum and updating mate- Acellus is designed to identify spe-
rials,” Mitchell said.
cifi c defi ciencies in a student’s un-
Joseph explained how the online derstanding of core concepts and to
system, which he said is used
respond with “customized personal
in 4,200 schools across the U.S.,
support” for each student when they
provides help for administrators
need it, Joseph and Mitchell said.
and staff as well as appealing to
The principals and teachers also are
students.
notifi ed of these issues.
As an example, he presented
Joseph said that at Eagle Cap,
a video showing how the Acellus
once he receives such a notifi cation,
platform helps students with their
he is able to pull his paraprofession-
writing by providing an interac-
al staff in to work with the students
tive tutoring system as they do
who are struggling.
their work. For misspelled words,
Mitchell said Acellus also helps
students are directed to a dictionary students who are spending extend-
to look up the word and then type in ed time on a specifi c task without
the correct spelling rather than the making progress.
computer automatically fi lling it in
“The system will adapt to keep
for them. In the case of grammatical them going,” he said.
errors, students receive a grammar
And teachers are able to add their
lesson and then have the oppor-
own lessons to the courses, Mitchell
tunity to improve their writing by
said.
making corrections.
He said his staff, if the curriculum
By providing students help with is available in their subject areas,
the mechanics of writing, the online will use the Acellus platform as
system allows more time for teach- their textbook.
ers to spend with them on idea
“I’ve asked that they use this as
development and writing a thesis,
their base and supplement it with
Joseph said.
their lessons,” he said.
Instruction is available at all lev-
In addressing plans for all Baker
schools to begin comprehensive
distance learning on Sept. 8,
Superintendent Mark Witty noted
that there will be opportunities for
limited in-person instruction for
specifi c students beginning later in
September.
“First we’ll make sure we get
comprehensive distance learning up
and going well and then we’ll look at
small groups coming in,” he said.
The District must continue to
work with the local health authori-
ties in that regard to ensure that
there have been no COVID-19 cases
among the staff or students involved
for the last 14 days, Witty said.
The limited in-person instruction
will range from one-on-on sessions
with students in special education
to small groups of no more than 10
English language learners, career
and technical education students
learning hands-on skills such as
welding, and those working toward
college credit or studying advanced
placement courses.
They will be limited to a maxi-
mum of 2 hours per session and
may only be exposed to up to two
cohorts, including while being
transported.
Witty said the District’s ability
to provide in-person learning in
Grades 7-12 under new metrics for
schools in sparsely populated coun-
ties might be hampered by another
provision of the state rules that
require that “students cannot be
part of any single cohort or part of
multiple cohorts that is greater than
really that different? How-
ever, because I’ve lived on
the receiving side of these
comments, I have gained a
completely new perspective.
First off, my experi-
ence has taught me that I
completely agree with the
fi rst part of each comment
because it’s important to
learn the language and the
culture in order to function
and understand the values
of one’s new neighbors — I
am, after all, living in their
country.
But empathy and patience
is important too. I just look
at people and tell them, I’m
doing the best I can. And one
can imagine the relief I have
when, on that rare occasion,
I’m able to handle bureau-
cratical errands in English
because the public offi cial
can speak it, or I fi nd a trans-
lated version of information
I need to know. Learning a
language takes a lot of time.
Learning to understand a
new culture takes years.
Since my summer plans
have had to take a major
diversion, like the plans of so
many other people around
the world, I have tried to
stay positive and fi nd com-
promise. I honestly would
give anything to be home in
Eagle Valley right now to see
my many family members,
to see my new niece, say
hello to friends, and of course
visit my mother and father.
COVID-19 has defi nitely
rubbed some salt into this
wound and I simply do my
best to not let it fester. I’m
sure there are many others
who have similar feelings. If
anything, this pandemic has
forced me to open my eyes to
the more important things in
life and realize just exactly
how much I took family for
granted. Having said that, I
really do need to catch up on
my phone calls home!
Story Miller’s coronavirus
chronicle will continue in the
Tuesday, Aug. 18 issue.
twice. The fi rst test, which
happened about 10 days ago,
was negative, she said.
Hunsaker said she hasn’t
received a result from the
second test.
The Herald asked Deanna
Smith, regional director of
operations for Concepts in
Community Living Inc., which
owns Meadowbrook, for an
interview but as of press time
Friday afternoon had not had
a response.
rather than moving to in-person
instruction when COVID-19 condi-
tions improve in the county, he said.
“We just got the new metrics at
the beginning of the week,” Witty
said Friday. “We need more time to
study this.”
— Mark Witty, Baker Schools
In other business Thursday
superintendent, talking about
night,
the Board:
the potential to have in-person
•Approved the resignation of
teaching for students with special
needs starting later in September
Shannon Streeter, fi scal assistant in
the District Offi ce.
• Approved the resignations
50 people.”
That will be easy for the District of Joy LeaMaster, BHS library
to accomplish for students in kin-
director/guidance; and Holly Miller,
dergarten through sixth grade, who Brooklyn Primary kindergarten
are in self-contained classrooms,
teacher.
Witty said. But at the secondary
• Approved a leave of absence for
level, depending on how the term
Kelsey Lehman, Brooklyn Primary
cohort is defi ned, that could be “very
kindergarten teacher.
challenging,” he said.
• Approved the hiring of Chris
At this point, a typical BHS
Young
to teach sixth grade and
student would come in contact
Hailey
Kendrick to teach fourth
with about 105 students, Witty
said. Those at Baker Middle School grade at South Baker Intermediate
School.
would have contact with 75 to 80
students.
• Learned that Donald Everson,
Witty said he believes the term
BMS instructional assistant, re-
cohort describes a group of students signed from his classifi ed employee
in the same location for an extended position.
period of time, as in a classroom,
• Learned that more families are
rather than those who might
behind in registering their students
simply be passing each other in the
for classes this year than in the
hallway.
“It does impact our plan,” he said past. Witty said that in past years
of understanding the state’s intent. about 90 percent have registered by
this time.
If that requirement of cohorts
“It will require a lot of calling and
of 50 cannot be met, middle school
leg work to get registration done,”
and high school students would be
required to continue online classes he said.
“First we’ll make sure we
get comprehensive distance
learning up and going well
and then we’ll look at small
groups coming in”