Chez News

Chez News: January 2022

January 2022

Some news from in and around school--from student leadership, to our Omicron response, to an artistic honoring of Martin Luther King, Jr., Notre Dame is clearly part of the wider story of history, activism, and progress in our community.

Sarai Acosta '22:

Manager of a Historic Campaign

The Candidate and

Her Campaign Manager

Cherish Patton

The Candidate and Campaign Team: From left to right: Narissa Walker, Sarai Acosta, Cierra Johnson, Cherish Patton, Emilee Castro, Coca Yamamoto

ND Senior Sarai Acosta is the 17-year-old Campaign Manager for Cherish Patton, one of the youngest candidates ever to run for NY State Assembly in Harlem, District 70. Sarai met Cherish at a Juneteenth event she had helped to organize this past summer. She ended up sharing her college essay about the experience with the candidate, and a partnership was formed!

In her role, Sarai manages a team of 22 campaign workers and actively seeks endorsements for and collaborations with the candidate. Cherish Patton is a social justice activist and visionary, and Sarai is the person taking care of the "nitty gritty," as she puts it, behind the scenes. There has been opposition from the Harlem political machine along the way, but Cherish and Sarai are determined to break the system. Notes Sarai, "I'm a pretty competitive person." It's also been challenging balancing the responsibilities of being a full-time high school student while managing an active campaign. Saria says that her school planner is chock full of appointments through the end of the year.

Cherish and Sarai actually grew up in the same neighborhood and share a similar vision for their community. One of the legislative priorities of Patton's platform is passing an Excess Food Law so that businesses that would throw away food at the end of the day are instead able to make meals available to those suffering from nutritional insecurity. Another key issue for the candidate is to provide basic fire safety information and resources to all NYCHA residents. Patton also wants to promote "Mental Health in the Hood," recognizing that the need is profound because of housing neglect and school and neighborhood violence.

If any Chez Nous sisters are interested in helping with Cherish Patton's campaign, they need only reach out by email or text to Sarai. There are roles to fill in marketing, communications, social media, and public relations. Sarai says a highlight of her experience on the campaign trail has been working with an amazing group of colleagues, and she knows ND students would fit right in. Headed to college next year with an intended major of Political Science and on a pre-law track, Sarai Acosta is a name to remember and a leader to watch!

Notre Dame Responds to the Omicron Surge

In mid-December 2021, Nurse Jean Canavan was pleased that the school had not had a positive COVID case since the beginning of September. But just before the Christmas break, she started to see a big uptick in test positivity. She and the administrative team decided the safest way to proceed was to require everyone to submit a negative test result before they returned to school in early January 2022. Over the Christmas break, the number of positive cases exploded, and many students, faculty, and staff emailed Nurse Jean to let her know they had tested positive. At the same time, many people reported they were having trouble finding testing sites with a quick turnaround time or were unable to get appointments. Nurse Jean contacted LabQ and arranged for them to offer a testing van in front of the school for anyone who was unable to get a test in their neighborhood. The tests results, which came back in 24 hours, showed a high level of positive cases among students, teachers and staff, confirming that we couldn't safely have in-person classes. There were too many community members isolating for 10 days.

In addition to offering the LabQ van on a weekly basis (they are scheduled to come every Thursday from 8am-10am) for anyone who wants to be tested, the school is also planning to distribute "At-home" rapid test kits as another tool to quickly identify positive cases. These kits are intended to be used only at home. The plan is to provide them to anyone at school who has been identified as a close contact of someone with Covid-19 or any student who comes to Nurse Jean’s office with symptoms. If the rapid test is negative and they are experiencing symptoms, they will still have to follow up for additional testing with a healthcare provider. The kit is just a way to find out if someone is positive at that moment. They can be negative one day and test positive the next day because as Covid progresses, there are more viral particles to detect.

Notre Dame is so grateful for Nurse Jean’s expertise and guidance and for the nimble and thoughtful response of our leadership team. School is fully back in person now, with very strong attendance rates. Last words of advice from Nurse Jean: “Healthcare professionals recommend getting a booster if you are eligible, to prevent severe illness.” Get boosted, ND!

The LabQ Testing Van comes to ND! Students and faculty have weekly access to PCR COVID testing, with Nurse Jean on hand to make sure the process runs smoothly.

Students Honor

Martin Luther King, Jr. through Art

Mr. Glenn Stordeur's 9th grade African American History class is participating in the

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Art & Essay Exhibit sponsored by New York State. Six artworks from the Class of '25 were selected to represent Notre Dame and will be displayed on the New York State website through a virtual display on Dr. King's Birthday on Monday January 17th. Kudos to these artists for their work celebrating the causes and principles of Martin Luther King, Jr.: Fiona Codd; Caroline Schouten; Natalie Grullon; Cai-Alexis Williams-Lovell; Maya Cartwright; and Christina O' Keefe.