*Course: Multiplatform Newsroom I (JOUR200W; Spring 2020)*
A community of 30,000+ residents in southwestern Pennsylvania dramatically adjusted during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Cranberry Township is a rapidly-growing business hub approximately 25 miles north of Pittsburgh. The town is home to an array of individuals who needed to transition into a whole new lifestyle.
Like many across the country, the outbreak forced local schools and non-essential services to shut their doors until further notice.
Tracey O'Toole is a chemistry instructor at Seneca Valley High School, the area’s main school district. She watched the in-person relationships she built with her current group of students fade away.
“A teacher has a different relationship with each student. Sometimes, you connect based on baseball. Sometimes, you connect based on nail polish or fashion,” said O’Toole.
“Education happens most easily when there is an appropriate and professional relationship between the student and the teacher.”
O’Toole also hinted that a digital setting may be a roadblock between a balance of education and enjoyment in the classroom.
“I miss the lab activities, like making Kool-Aid to demonstrate the differences between Molarity and molality. I’m not sure my students see the fun in the curriculum when it is 100% digital,” O’Toole added.
Arthur and Karen Chillcott are a retired couple who recently moved to a new home within the community. Trying to pass the time has brought many challenges.
“We’re making the best of it by reading, taking short walks around the neighborhood, and playing board games. To have these restrictions is frustrating. There aren’t even any Penguins or Pirates games to watch,” Mr. Chillcott said.
The adjustment to a new type of normal has simultaneously entailed many disappointing realities.
“It stinks not being able to see family for routine visits. Easter was a lonesome holiday without church and a holiday meal together,” Arthur added.
Andrew Mirilovich was preparing to complete his freshman year at Penn State University. He became greatly accustomed to learning in traditional classroom settings.
“My motivation went completely downhill. There’s no real challenge anymore. You don’t even have to wake up for classes anymore because they’re all pre-recorded,” Mirilovich said.
Mirilovich is currently working at the township’s Shop’n Save, a major grocery provider. He saw many social distancing and sanitation procedures be rapidly implemented.
“They have someone working at every other register, so there’s now a lot more people cleaning. I usually clean the carts a lot and I like it because it makes the time go fast,” Mirilovich added.
In a time where groceries are especially vital, the employee said he recognized an increase in customer precaution and skepticism.
“If they don’t see me cleaning the carts, they don’t think the carts are clean,” Mirilovich exclaimed.
Alex Gritz was in the middle of his first season with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He was disappointed by the season’s abrupt end.
“When the season was temporarily put on hold, I was hopeful that we were going to get to go back. I was looking forward to playing in the playoffs. When I saw that the season was cancelled, I knew there was nothing I could do about it,” Gritz said.
In his first season in the same league that produced Sidney Crosby, the forward recorded two goals and six assists.
Gritz spent the past two seasons with the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League, only about 100 miles away from Cranberry Township. Rouyn-Noranda sits almost 700 miles away from his hometown.
“It stinks that I can’t have my friends and family come watch me play anymore. It was hard being so far away from home,” Gritz added.
Colleen Merrick was occupied with her public speaking courses at Westminster College, located in New Wilmington, about 35 miles north of Cranberry Township. She knew that unusual circumstances would produce unusual responses.
“My students don’t have an audience to speak to anymore. A lot of them look like they’re in a closet while their little siblings are running around,” Merrick said.
The professor also understood how the disruption to traditional instruction abruptly ended a smooth flow in her classes.
“In my afternoon class, there was this really good energy that was happening. To not have that available anymore is the most heartbreaking thing to me,” Merrick added.
Merrick did not let the circumstances halt her family’s relationship with God and the community, as they continue volunteer work for Victory Family Church.
“We’ve taken church to the people. We’re doing a food drive, and I also run a small group for women with unplanned pregnancies,” Merrick indicated.
In such an uncertain time, Merrick has adhered to the belief that unification will benefit everyone.
She hopes that “God will just heal our country and give us some new options coming out of this, while also bonding our community and our nation.”
At a time convoluted by uncertainty, the residents of Cranberry Township are determined to come out stronger on the other side.
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