The past year has been one of change for Powell High School and Middle School choir teacher Rachel Schoessler. As if adjusting to life in a pandemic wasn’t enough, Schoessler has been faced with changes on both a professional and a personal level. 

While Schoessler has been teaching choir for around four years, the 2020-21 school year is her first within Park County School District 1. Previously teaching in Lovell, Schoessler entered the Powell schools in August. Around the same time, Schoessler also became a new mother to a baby girl.

“Entering a new school during a pandemic has been very stressful at times… my world has been completely turned upside down both personally and professionally,” Schoessler said. “I am grateful for the grace that has been provided by administrators and students as we all try to navigate these strange times.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID-19 is primarily spread through the transferring of respiratory droplets among individuals. These droplets can be spread through breathing, talking, coughing, sneezing — and singing.

Because of this, choir classes have had to be creative with precautions. Schoessler said that within the high school, the group originally attempted to stage rehearsals in the PHS auditorium. Rehearsing in a larger area was meant to allow students to practice social distancing and sing without masks. However, students weren’t able to communicate or hear well due to the distance and ultimately rehearsal returned to the choir room.

In the classroom, students are required to wear masks while singing to prevent the spread of the virus.

“Many of my students have a tough time with mask wearing, particularly while singing,” Schoessler said. “The difficulties for me have been with the inability to plan very far ahead and the canceled events, which have particularly affected my seniors.”

The high school choir bought masks specifically designed for singing. The design consisted of a wire frame meant to keep the cloth further away from the face, which makes the mask take the shape of a duckbill. However, these masks ended up being more of a burden than helpful. Students found the design made it more difficult to breathe while singing and muffled the sound more than regular masks — which made adding dynamics and singing at louder volumes difficult. 

Regardless, both high school and middle school students have still been able to participate in school band and choir concerts, such as a concert that took place March 1 in the PHS auditorium.

And throughout these challenges, Schoessler has been able to find a silver lining. Schoessler said that she’s been thankful for the courtesy that has been shown by school administrators and her students over the past year. 

“It has been a blessing in disguise to see the compassion that resides within so many people,” Schoessler said. “I’ve also learned just how important it is to connect with others, whether we know what their mouths look like or not.”

(The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been noticeable since the original lockdown and restrictions that were set into place in March 2020. A year later, while the amount of available toilet paper has increased and restrictions have been relaxed, the novel coronavirus is still impacting individuals and areas. This is the first in an occasional series of articles looking at how local residents are faring one year later.)