The global pandemic that resulted from the Covid-19 virus was one of the most heinous and wicked events of the past half century or so. Beyond rampant illness and death there was the social costs of isolation and anxiety perhaps unparalleled in the 21st century. In my own field of education I’ve seen an entire generation of students with what I would call irrevocable “learning loss.” No amount of “catching up” will ever take the place of missed classroom learning.

I’ve said previously that I don’t think the pandemic will truly be “over” until everyone who was a K-12 student in 2020 and 2021 has graduated from high school.

Even then, I’m still going to point to where they used to have those bins of free cookies at Harris Teeter and say, “Right there. That’s why the pandemic will never really be over.”