Shortly after the onset of the pandemic, five-year-old Abby Bucolo started having mild panic attacks. She鈥檇 complain about stomach aches or she鈥檇 throw tantrums. Sometimes she'd hyperventilate. But her mom, Courtney Bucolo, says those episodes were nothing compared to what happened shortly after a wildfire destroyed their home in Talent, when they started living at a bed-and-breakfast in Ashland.
鈥淪he was complaining about a stomach ache, but it kept escalating to the point where she was screaming and doubling over, every couple of minutes,鈥� Courtney Bucolo recalls.
That went on for hours. Courtney Bucolo took her daughter to the hospital, where she seemed to go catatonic. She curled into a fetal position, didn鈥檛 talk to anyone, and hardly answered nurses鈥� questions. At one point she started screaming again, and passed out.
But doctors said all of her tests came out clear.
鈥淎nd then they were like, we think it鈥檚 a panic attack,鈥� Courtney Bucolo says.
They went home that night, but Abby Bucolo's panic attack didn't stop.
"The next day was the same," Courtney Bucolo recalls. "She's just screaming, and screaming, and screaming. It was probably the worst experience of my life. Nothing was stopping it."
Since she's so young 鈥� just five years old 鈥� Abby Bucolo can only take mild medications like Benadryl to calm down. After consulting a few specialists, her parents have since been giving her small doses of medicine, which has helped stave off additional attacks. So has therapy, as well as teaching Abby Bucolo about the meaning of what it is to be anxious, scared, and stressed.
Abby Bucolo is one of 700 students in the Talent-Phoenix School District who lost their homes to the Almeda Fire on September 8th. Two weeks later, they had to start their first day of school. Many tuned in from hotels or relatives鈥� houses. Some are living in tents or in outbuildings without an internet connection, so the district has set up hotspots in different locations around the county.
鈥淪ome kids are telling really intense stories, and some kids are like, 鈥楾his part of my house burned down but not that part,鈥欌�� says Talent Elementary School teacher Pam Ward, who teaches fifth graders. 鈥淥r some kids are like, 鈥業 live where nothing burned down and I feel bad because my house is standing and my friend across the street house isn't.鈥�
During Abby Bucolo's first day of online kindergarten, she was the first to raise her hand to introduce herself to the grid of squares showing her classmates' faces.
鈥淢y name is Abby and my house burned down and I like art,鈥� she announced.
While Abby Bucolo loves making friends and speaking up in class, she dreads getting up in the morning to attend school online. She says she's made new friends in kindergarten, but adds, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know them yet,鈥� because she鈥檚 only ever seen them on a computer screen.
Like Abby Bucolo, a lot of students are having a hard time dealing with these sudden changes. Their lives have been upended twice in one year 鈥� first with the pandemic, then again with a wildfire that decimated much of their towns.
Talent-Phoenix School District administrators say they want to bring students back to campus this winter to help give them a sense of returning back to normal.
鈥淭hat lack of stability and the lack of predictability can be really harmful,鈥� says Phoenix Elementary School Principal Shawna Schleif. 鈥淎nd so 鈥� if we can mitigate that by bringing kids back to campus to create space for kids to be, and be in relation with one another, and give families a reprieve to take care of all of the things that they need to take care of 鈥� we want to be able to do that.鈥�
After the fire, the district surveyed parents for their thoughts about having students return to in-person learning. Schleif says about 80 percent of the participants want their kids to go back to campus.
Abby Bucolo's parents are among them.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the worst decision to make,鈥� Courtney Bucolo says. 鈥淲e know the virus is real, and we know it鈥檚 a problem and we assume if they go back to in-person learning there鈥檒l be an increase in cases and we鈥檒l probably have to stop seeing my grandparents. It鈥檚 a rock and a hard place.鈥�
If students come back to school this year, administrators say they鈥檒l likely implement a hybrid model with some students coming to campus during different parts of the day. Everyone will need to wear face masks.
Still, administrators don鈥檛 have an exact return date in mind. They say it鈥檚 dependent on coronavirus cases in Jackson County, which lately have been skyrocketing. So the chances that Abby Bucolo could actually meet her new friends in person are becoming slimmer every day.
