Ohio University students and Athens, Ohio locals are faced with the challenge of adjusting to life during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Athens business owners are having to find new ways to stay afloat during this economic hiatus while students being sent off of campus are having to adjust to virtual learning. The two situations combined leave the small Appalachian community empty and suffering financially as the spring season has lost all expected profit for businesses. This is all being caused by the coronavirus.
Governor Mike Dewine officially closed all bars & restaurants on March 15, according to a document on governor.ohio.gov. Since that order, bars and restaurants in Athens have been negatively impacted. A handful of businesses were able to stay open for carryout, but many were forced to close in order to save as much money as possible. The Pigskin Bar and Grille was one of the restaurants that could not afford to stay open during this pandemic. In a telephone interview, Ric Wasserman, the majority owner, described The Pigskin as “the premier sports bar and grill in Athens, Ohio. We basically created the sports bar market and we were the first one that opened in 1994 ... a hotspot for evening activity for not just college students, but really for everybody.” He explained that The Pigskin’s carryout business was not large enough to run by itself during the shutdown of the restaurant and bar. Even after the The Ohio Department of Commerce’s Division of Liquor Control granted bars and restaurants the ability to return any unopened high proof liquor products bought in the 30 days prior to the shutdown, the best financial decision for The Pigskin was a complete closure. The Pigskin is one of many businesses in Athens facing hardships at this time as the coronavirus continues to worsen. Along with bars and restaurants, all Ohio schools have been moved to virtual learning due to the coronavirus. This has disrupted the learning of many OHIO students, specifically those not fond of online classes. When speaking to OU senior Missy Pedulla on the phone, she told me that her internet connection at her parents house is so bad that she has had to stay in Athens in order to continue her final semester online. While she did explain how much she loves being in Athens, she rather be spending this time at home with her family. Sadly that is not possible for her due to the now online classes.
Fellow OU senior Erynn McHenry had similar thoughts to the sudden change because of the coronavirus. In a phone interview, she said she personally dislikes online classes and has never been confident in them. “After being in school this long and having to transfer to online learning for the last however many weeks left of my education career, it's definitely been a rollercoaster,” said McHenry.
While the switch to all online classes is inconvenient for many OU students, the greater concern is the impact it has on public schools in areas where technological resources aren’t as common in a household. McHenry is studying early childhood education at OU and has gotten the opportunity to teach at a local school. She explained the different challenges many schools in Athens and all over the Appalachian area are facing. Due to the low socio-economic status of the area, many students do not have devices or access to the internet at home. In order to complete schoolwork during the suspension of in-person learning, teachers are having to build packets for students that parents are supposed to pick up at the school. The issue is that parents are not available or willing to pick up this work for their children. “Education really isn't a priority for many of them,” said McHenry. “And some students haven't even had contact with their teachers or their families haven't had contact with their teachers since this began, so it's also worrisome as a student teacher and someone who was such a big part of their lives.” This block in the communication path between teachers and students will also create major setbacks in education moving forward, specifically in the early childhood ages. McHenry predicts next year to be an uphill battle for teachers when students hopefully return to their classrooms in the fall. The average student will most likely be very behind in comparison to what a normal end of the school year would have brought. Another aspect to consider is the loss of resources that school provides to students besides education. McHenry developed very personal connections with many of her students, guessing
that she is probably one of the only smiling faces some of those kids see in a day. That is an example of the emotional assistance offered by schools that is being lost in the closing of classrooms. On top of the loss of that support, students are also losing out on some everyday necessities like food and basic care.
In regards to the emotions of the class of 2020 and the abrupt end to their senior year, Pedulla and McHenry shared similar feelings. When asked about their regrets, both soon to be graduates wished they had taken more of an initiative to spend time with their friends rather than excessively stressing about work and school. Had they known that this pandemic would shorten their last few months in Athens, they would have taken advantage of more opportunities to have fun. “I feel selfish when I start to think about the things that I'm going to miss out on just because people are being impacted way more than just getting their senior year cut short,” Pedulla said. “But when I do start to think about it, you know, I get a red, angry jealousy of all the freshmen, sophomores, juniors and anybody staying that gets to have one more year at OU.” The Pigskin majority owner, Wasserman, went on to share the grief that many people have for the OU class of 2020. The Pigskin staff has already begun preliminary plans of celebrating its senior employees and customers once the coronavirus slows down. The goal is to have some sort of reunion this summer for those who didn’t get the rightful sendoff they deserved. As the coronavirus carries on across the nation, all we can do is support the small community of Athens as much as possible. The Athens City-County Health Department has created a COVID-19 resource page as well as a continually updated local resource guide for those in need of food assistance. Both can be found at athenspublichealth.org.
* This was my final assignment that I submitted in my Multiplatform Reporting and Writing class taken in the Spring of 2020. I was tasked with choosing a topic, completing 3 interviews connecting to the subject, as well as citing a documented source. I was also tasked with following AP style throughout this assignment.
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