A good day

Medfield MA

09 April, 2021

2:30 PM

Description

April 8th, 2021 was a good day. Yesterday our great little town got recognized for the work it had done to get our kids back to school safely and with peace of mind. In Medfield, Ginkgo Bioworks pooled testing enrollment along with all the other infection control policies in place are among the highest in the nation. Yesterday on their American Rescue Plan tour United States Representative Congressman Jake Auchincloss, State Senator Paul Feeney, and State Representative Shawn Dooley documented locally by CBS news and nationally by Bloomberg came to Medfield High School to personally thank 'us'. Specifically Superintendent Jeff Marsden for seeking out pooled testing, Kathy Thompson head school nurse for her unwavering dedication and leadership along with the staff of amazing school nurses for effectively piloting and carrying out the testing and finally and perhaps most importantly parents for agreeing to and embracing the testing. This model not only will be carried out in our Commonwealth but also nationwide. It was jokingly called 'The Medfield Model', which I think has a nice ring to it. Yesterday was a day to celebrate 'us', for the almost 80% of parents who consented to have their children COVID tested weekly. It is because of all of you and the trust you have in our school nurses, our medical representatives and our administration that this has been so successful. So many times in the past year people have asked me, 'what can I do to help?'. This initiative would not have been as effective without the community's collective efforts: now the teachers feel safer, the students feel safer and the parents feel safer. As Jeff Marsden addressed repeatedly, 'this wouldn't have been possible without the school nurses hard work'. Win-Win Yesterday we also highlighted one of the most important lessons that we have learned from COVID: how our actions affect others. How the choices we make allow for the triumph of the greater good. I have always believed in 'The Medfield Model' for greatness, yesterday was just another tangible example. Thank you Medfield. Yesterday was a good day.