E
va nston i an
August 16, 2021
Evanston, IL.
Evanston Township High School
Vol. 105, Issue 1
Two vital components of Evanston community recover from COVID-19
Evanston businesses look toward a post-pandemic economy By Lauren Dain, Jessica Seghal, Meg Houseworth, Bridget Baker, Zoe Kaufman, Sophie Milner-Gorvine Executive Editor, In-Depth Editor, Assistant In-Depth Editor, Staff Writers COVID-19 devastated individuals in an extensive amount of ways that would be impossible to exhaust. Responsible for over a year of mortality, isolation and stress, the pandemic has not only impacted human lives but the state of the country’s economy as well. According to Forbes, the U.S. economy experienced its worst condition since the Great Depression. Emulating the nation, Evanston’s economy took a substantial hit as well. “Anyone who drives through [Evanston] can see the devastating effects that the pandemic has had in terms of store closings,” explains 1st Ward Alderperson Clare Kelly. “[Evanston’s] been hugely impacted by the pandemic—by the lack of clien-
tele and customers during the long haul of COVID-19. We still have a lot of empty storefronts, stores and small businesses that are still struggling to recover.” Kelly oversees the downtown portion of Evanston which encompasses the majority of the 1st Ward: an area on which COVID-19 had a particularly detrimental impact. As a result of ever-changing public health guidelines, downtown businesses have had to refashi o n
their policies and strategies numerous times over the course of the pandemic. While seemingly frustrating to business owners, this indefinite business structure also provides the opportunity to absorb a valuable lesson of persistence that might not have presented itself in past years. “We really had to keep reinventing our business model over and over to suit whatever the conditions were at any given moment, and I think
[Continued on Page 10] Illustration by Kupu Sumi
ETHS reimagines school as students return to building By Sofia Williams Staff Writer August 16: whether it’s with apprehension or excitement, the ETHS community has long awaited the return of full-time, in-person school. While many have anticipated a return to normalcy, CDC guidelines and new changes at ETHS have already shown that the 2021-2022 school year will be like none before. In March, ETHS announced some major changes to the way the school would function in the coming future. A shift in the tardy policy, implementation of block scheduling and an elimination of finals are the three biggest changes. Even aside from these changes, ETHS will still look very different than the ETHS to which students are familiar. Initially, on July 15, ETHS announced that fully vaccinated students
that the people who were able to do that learned a kind of resilience that isn’t necessarily part of a business mindset,” Nina Barrett, owner of the downtown Evanston bookstore Bookends & Beginnings, recalls. “People talk about making business plans, and we all did have a business plan, but this upset everybody’s plans. It was a huge challenge just to learn that.” Although COVID-19 introduced monumental hardships for downtown Evanston, there was already work to be done to this area prior to the pandemic. Brick and mortar businesses had encountered online consumption as an obstacle before the pandemic, which has only worsened with stay-at-home policies. “There was a pre-existing layer of damage that was already in progress to the retail businesses of Evanston, which I think has a lot to do with online shopping, and specifically with Amazon. It’s gotten a lot harder for a brick and mortar retail business to just sell enough stuff to pay [for] a commercial rent anymore,” Barrett describes.
and staff would not be required to wear masks in the school. But as the Delta variant continued to rise over the summer, the CDC issued new guidelines that caused ETHS to revise their previous July 15 statement. As of July 28, all students and staff are required to wear masks inside the building, regardless of vaccination status. “The governor recently mandated mask [wearing] in all schools, I suspect because he’s dealing with all [age] groups. But I am comfortable with his decision,” Superintendent Eric Withersoon said. “All the research continues to show that reducing the risk [by
Wondering about changes to ETHS? Page 3
weari n g masks] is huge.” ETHS still retains some of the guidelines issued in their July 15 statement—students are still required to submit proof of vaccination for contact tracing purposes, and three-foot distancing will still be maintained in the building whenever possible. “The governor and State Board of Education actually issued guidelines, [and] it says you should be trying to maintain three feet of distance whenever possible, but that it cannot be a reason to not have every student back in school,” Witherspoon explained. When it comes to what these major
Catch up on our Summer Kits! Page 14-16
changes will look like, many students aren’t entirely sure what to expect. “I guess it will depend on the teacher and how much they enforce [mask-wearing],” said senior Avamarie Via. “I do think everyone will have their masks on, but a bunch of people will have it below their nose.” Teachers are expected to fully enforce the mask-wearing policy and make sure that students are wearing masks correctly, and the consequences for not wearing masks would mirror other in-class infractions. While Via wondered about how onboard every student will be regarding mask-wearing, she did expect threefoot distancing to happen almost universally. “I’m assuming a bunch of teachers will do assigned seating and will keep the desks three feet apart. I guess it’ll be a little odd for group projects and stuff, which is kind of a win-win, because I hate group projects,” said Via. Amidst all of the uncertainty surrounding the school year, the Evanston community continues to hope for the best.