Mt. Pleasant educators get second vaccine dose

MT. PLEASANT - The sounds of joyous conversations, hearty laughter and vaccine packages ripping open filled the Mt. Pleasant High School Commons Friday afternoon as the staff at the Mt. Pleasant school district received their second round of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

Henry County Public Health provided vaccines to district staff for their second doses after they received their first doses in mid-February. The district staff was not required to get vaccinated, but many took the opportunity to get vaccinated to keep themselves and others safe.

Kindergarten teaching assistant Connie Endberg says she feels 'relieved to have my shots.”

Endberg had little to no reaction to the first vaccine and hopes that this time around won't be much different after getting COVID-19 from her daughter earlier this school year. Endburg like many other staff who are fully vaccinated will continue to wear masks per district policy.

'I feel relieved to have the shot, and I will still wear my face mask. I think the face masks have really cut down on our flu and working with kindergarten has really been an issue,” she said.

Many of the teachers who were vaccinated are glad that they can breathe a sigh of relief after a year of fully in-person instruction in the district. However, with masks and social distancing policies in place from the beginning of the year many weren't that worried especially after a successful first semester and no confirmed transmission traced to the schools.

Tyler Rodgers, the Wisdom Quest principal in the district, was happy to get the shot but wasn't worried about being in-person all year.

'I am glad we've been in school. I think it's the right place to be and as a parent I'm glad my kids have been in school. There's some things to work through, but at the end of the day I think it's gone well and it's good to be in school. It's important,” he said. 'I think the school board and Mr. Henriksen put the policies in place and the principals, teachers and students have carried it out and done what they've been asked to do.”

With a school year of masks and distancing it has been a wild ride for educators especially second-year agriculture teacher Matthew Jones.

'It's definitely been a change, that even a year and a half ago you never would have thought would happen, but I think we've done a great job as a society getting back to school and making sure to get our priorities straight and getting everything accomplished however we can,” he said.

Endberg is happy that the district has stayed in-person all year, citing its effects on students' mental health.

'I am glad we went back, and I think it helped with the mental health of the students, and I think that's really important,” She said. 'We weren't in school for five months, and I think some of the kids are glad to be back. I think it's a positive thing because I think kids not going is going to affect their mental health.”

Henry County Public Health continues its vaccine rollout to people in tier 1B eligibility at their weekly vaccine clinics. To see if you are eligible or to register for an appointment visit healthyhenrycounty.org/covid/.