Editorial | A Back-to-School Message and a Surprise From Us
Welcome to The Raider Voice 2021-2022!
August 19, 2021
If you expected the COVID-19 pandemic to be over by now, you’re just like the rest of us…
As students and faculty get déja vu pulling out their masks to enter campus, we are reminded that despite how exhausted we are of hearing about new protocols and variants, the reality is that we are still living amidst a global pandemic, and our community’s safety rests in our own hands.
The biggest obstacle to our collective mission of ending the pandemic isn’t the continuance of mask mandates: it’s Miami-Dade County’s widespread reluctance to receive COVID-19 vaccines. As Florida remains one of the nation’s largest coronavirus hotspots, Miami-Dade County maintains a rising average of more than three thousand cases daily, with almost 40% of the population unvaccinated. While Gulliver does not require students and faculty to receive COVID-19 vaccinations, The Raider Voice editorial board encourages our readers to consider what getting a vaccine means for our school community. It means the “Blue Zoo” filled with fans during games. It means seeing the mask-free faces of our classmates and teachers, and enjoying as normal and fun a year as possible. It means the senior class being able to experience the traditions and milestones of their last year of high school. In short, a decision to join the hundreds of fully vaccinated students and faculty members is an apolitical way to get one step closer to a lifestyle uninterrupted by the pandemic.
The good news is that there are also some more welcome changes this year: no more forgetting to fill out the Safety App, no more awkward group project breakout rooms on Zoom, and no more having to redirect our routes on the way to class or lunch because of the (infamous) arrows. Along with the full return to in-person school, there is something our staff is excited to announce: after a three-year suspension, we’ll be resuming printing The Raider Voice! The newspaper will come in the form of a special edition magazine at the end of each quarter of the school year, featuring exclusive pieces, colorful designs, and lots of other new content for everyone in the school community to enjoy. We hope that you are as interested in seeing it as we are in creating it.
In the meantime, our Campus Voices box is open to new op-ed columnists and opinion writers. Campus Voices is an opportunity for students outside the staff to express themselves and use their voices by publishing their writing on our newspaper platform. Click here to see some of last year’s submissions, and here to meet our new staff members (photos and bios will be updated soon.) As a newspaper staff, we always strive to embody Gulliver Prep’s values, connect our school community, and give students a voice to inspire positive change on campus.
Diego Collazo • Aug 20, 2021 at 12:36 pm
I think it is crazy how 40% of Miami isn’t vaccinated. More people should be vaccinated because it is healthy for you and it helps us be able to get back to normal. After all that we went through last year with online school and having to be away from family and friends I would think that more people would get vaccinated. It is approved by many different doctors and thousands of people have gotten it. The vaccine helps you fight the virus in a better way so you don’t get as many symptoms as you would if you did not get it. Also getting the vaccine is free and very easy to do. The vaccine can be the difference between life and death, so I think people should just get it. Getting the vaccine won’t only protect yourself, but your loved ones, which should be very important for everyone whether it is to protect your parents, friends or kids.
Oscar Garcia del Rey • Aug 20, 2021 at 12:26 pm
I wholeheartedly agree with your stance. Although it isn’t possible to require vaccines it is the best way to combat the virus right now. There are many people who can’t get the vaccine due to medical reasons such as allergies but if you can there is no reason you shouldn’t. Everyone wants to go back to the way things were prior to the pandemic and the only way we can do this, at least for right now, is by taking this vaccine so that we can reach herd immunity and lets this become a lesser issue. If somebody chooses not to take the vaccine that is ok but at the very least they should be wearing their mask to prevent the possibility of them contracting the virus and spreading it to others. This isn’t even a choice solely about you because by not getting it you can potentially spread it and infect others. If we persist not getting the vaccine more and more variants will come and this will never end. This can also cause serious mental health issues resulting in anxiety which definitely not help. If we want to stop wearing masks and be able to feel more calm this is what needs to be done. Luckily we have already seen some change. As you have stated we no longer have to use the Safety App. You have also stated we don’t have anymore arrows. We still need to require masks as this is one of the only ways to protect the people around us. These changes might seem minor to some but to me this seems like we have made some more progress. We obviously have a long way to go in terms of vaccinations, wearing masks, and even social distancing protocols but I have hope.
micchela • Aug 20, 2021 at 10:23 am
As we all know, last year was a tough one. The majority of the students were remote and most of the activities were cancelled. Freshmen are just know going to experience the high school sensation. Last year, we didn’t have any fans for the football games. Yesterday at our first football game of the year everyone was excited to cheer our team. Slowly, everything will get back to normal but for now we have bending machines! Those breaks in between classes became so much better now. The first day felt like an actual first day of school. and that’s something we didn’t have last year.