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Metro teachers detail how COVID-19 has impacted them

Two teachers from the metro discuss how COVID impacted them. One says it helped improve his craft, while the other says it is one reason she quit.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — For the second straight fall semester, students and staff are back to school during a pandemic. 

Jamie McTaggart, who taught English and theater at a public Des Moines high school, won't be returning to the district this year.

"First of all, it was a really tough decision," she told Local 5. 

She was a teacher for eight years and said part of the reason she left was for her safety relating to COVID-19.

For one quarter of the 2020-21 school year, she took a leave of absence.

McTaggart said besides the virus being a concern for her health, it also highlighted existing problems she could no longer stand for. 

"I felt like decisions were being made for me personally, for my daughter, for my colleagues, for their families, for their students by people who didn't know us," McTaggart said. "I necessarily didn't feel like they cared about our well-being."

The former teacher also noted the short notice for students and staff going between in-person, online or hybrid learning was too much. 

"There's no consistency, there's no routine," she said. "Depending on the school district, do we need to be able to mask mandate, do we need to be able to distance or have certain measures?"

The uncertainty and stress led to her not renew her teaching contract with the district in April. 

This was done before Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law a ban on mask mandates in school.

But, when she found what the governor did, it reinforced her feelings.

"I do feel, still, like I made the right decision," McTaggart said.

Though the pandemic showed McTaggart teaching was no longer for her, it proved to Kevin Atterberg, it was his calling. 

"I love teaching," Atterbeg said.

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He has taught for almost 11 years and is currently a seventh-grade science teacher at Stilwell Junior High in West Des Moines.

When COVID-19 first hit, it was a bit of an adjustment for Atterbeg and so many others.

"I remember the days of sitting in front of my computer … just waiting for a student to log in to the classroom just to have a conversation," Atterberg said. "I'd have the same students every day and we'd just sit there and talk about cats or dogs."

Atterberg said teaching during the pandemic was a task. Last school year he taught students online and in-person, at the same time.

It was a lot of work, but he says it helped him become better at his craft.

"Do I stick to a deadline, or being to allow for extensions?" Atterberg asked. "I allow for the students to have a little more time."

Although teaching through the pandemic has been hard, Atterberg said "I would never walk out of the classroom and I haven't." 

McTaggart said though she is no longer teaching, she is not ruling it out for the future.

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