RMCNews – Farmington, New Mexico … La Vida Mission School reopened for in-person learning after a difficult few years dealing with COVID restrictions, which restricted in-person learning and other gatherings on the reservation.
The school submitted a reopening plan to the Department of Dine Education in August 2021, which was approved. The plan called for the first semester to be a mixture of hybrid learning with the second semester fully reopened, including the dormitories.
Dorie Panganiban, La Vida Mission office manager, recalls the preparations needed. “We did the first week of January 2022 as hybrid to get everything ready for the full in-person reentry. Dorms were cleaned and disinfected, and food, health, and safety supplies were provided to each of the four dorm houses–because this would be the first time our dorms would [be] open after their doors closed in March 2020 when the pandemic struck.”
On January 9, the laughter and smiles of the school children filled the campus once again.
“The children’s smiles and happiness as they walked from the school to their dorms and from their dorms to the school were a beautiful sight to behold. Many of them had expressed their longing to stay in the dorms once again,” said Panganiban.
Students were eager to resume the daily activities missed over the last few years, including morning flag-raising ceremonies and an exercise time after the flag-raising ceremony.
As the first week commenced, Panganiban explained how the joy of in-person learning came to a screeching stop. “Our joy was cut short when on Wednesday, a student and staff member tested positive for COVID-19, exposing almost everyone in the classrooms and the dorms, affecting our full reentry status.”
The school had no choice but to switch to remote learning while a reevaluation of in-person learning took place.
“After many prayers and careful consideration, we reevaluated our strategies to make sure that everyone was safe and that the spread of the virus was mitigated. People who needed to isolate and quarantine, did so,” said Panganiban.
After modifying and tightening some COVID protocols, the school and dorms reopened on January 30.
Panganiban asks RMC members to keep the mission school in prayer as they push forward with in-person education. “As we continue to open our school and dorm houses and pursue our educational programs and goals while keeping the safety of everyone as a priority, we ask you to please include our students and us in your daily prayers.”
–RMCNews; photo supplied
This article was adapted from the La Vida Mission newsletter.
