This bonus episode of The Borough We Became was conceived and produced by the Queens Public Library Teen Advisory Board.&nbsp; The Queens Public Library Teen Advisory Board is a yearlong program were members take the lead in creating and implementing a project that helps their peers and community. &nbsp;This year&rsquo;s TAB decided to work on a podcast to interview the voices they felt have been left out of the conversations around Covid-19. &nbsp;After much discussion, TAB members decided to highlight the voices of their peers and their experiences with quarantine and distance learning.&nbsp; After spending the first half of the school year learning the basics of podcasting, members worked together to write the interview questions and were responsible for interviewing, producing, and hosting the episode.&nbsp; Once they learned the basics of creating a podcast episode, the TAB members set out to interview people across generations and life experiences to ask the question &ldquo;How are you doing?&rdquo;&nbsp; Answers varied widely and touched upon the topics of virtual school, the disruption of daily routines, new skills learned during lockdown, and social media use. Interviewees often chose to highlight the positives of their experiences in quarantine.&nbsp;

<description>&lt;p&gt;This episode of the Queens Memory Project Podcast was conceived and produced by the Queens Public Library Teen Advisory Board.&amp;nbsp; The Queens Public Library Teen Advisory Board is a yearlong program were members take the lead in creating and implementing a project that helps their peers and community. &amp;nbsp;This year&amp;rsquo;s TAB decided to work on a podcast to interview the voices they felt have been left out of the conversations around Covid-19. &amp;nbsp;After much discussion, TAB members decided to highlight the voices of their peers and their experiences with quarantine and distance learning.&amp;nbsp; After spending the first half of the school year learning the basics of podcasting, members worked together to write the interview questions and were responsible for interviewing, producing, and hosting the episode.&amp;nbsp; Once they learned the basics of creating a podcast episode, the TAB members set out to interview people across generations and life experiences to ask the question &amp;ldquo;How are you doing?&amp;rdquo;&amp;nbsp; Answers varied widely and touched upon the topics of virtual school, the disruption of daily routines, new skills learned during lockdown, and social media use. Interviewees often chose to highlight the positives of their experiences in quarantine.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Bonus Episode: Teen Voices in the Pandemic

A special episode, created in partnership with&nbsp; <a href="https://www.bklynlibrary.org/podcasts/missing-them">Borrowed,</a> the Brooklyn Public Library podcast and the online newspaper The CITY, on grief and mourning during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how we can move forward as a community.

<description>&lt;p&gt;This bonus episode of The Borough We Became is a collaboration with Brooklyn Public Library's team responsible for the&amp;nbsp; &lt;em&gt;Borrowed&lt;/em&gt; &amp;nbsp;podcast. We decided to bring voices from Queens and Brooklyn together as part of a citywide initiative called Missing Them, by online newspaper THE CITY.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Want to learn more about the topics brought up in this episode? Check out the following links:&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Attend The CITY's&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://letsreimagine.org/missingthem"&gt;"Missing Them"&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;event (running online December 11 - 13) and&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://projects.thecity.nyc/covid-19-deaths/"&gt;search&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;the names and stories of those who've passed from COVID-19.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Queens residents: Share your story with&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://queensmemory.org/"&gt;Queens Memory.&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;If you live in Brooklyn:&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.bklynlibrary.org/podcasts/oral-histories"&gt;Record your COVID-19 story&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;with Brooklyn Public Library.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Listen to past Brooklyn oral histories on BPL's&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.bklynlibrary.org/osos"&gt;interactive map,&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;or on our previous Borrowed episode,&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.bklynlibrary.org/podcasts/stories-pandemic"&gt;"Stories from the Pandemic."&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Listen to Season 2 of Queens Memory,&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.stitcher.com/show/queens-memory-covid19-project"&gt;"The Borough We Became"&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;for more COVID-19 audio stories, or view Queens COVID-19 photos and stories on&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://qplnyc.urbanarchive.me/cities/nyc"&gt;Urban Archive.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Create a temporary memorial with tools from&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://namingthelost.com/memorials/"&gt;Naming the Lost Memorials,&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;and see COVID-19 memorials that have gone up&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/namingthelostmemorials"&gt;around the country.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;bull; Visit&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.maplegrove.biz/"&gt;Maple Grove Cemetery&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;or&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.green-wood.com/"&gt;Green-Wood Cemetery&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;for a quiet walk.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Borrowed is hosted by Krissa Corbett Cavouras, and Adwoa Adusei, produced by Virginia Marshall and written by Adwoa Adusei and Virginia Marshall, with help from Fritzi Bodenheimer, Jennifer Proffitt, Meryl Friedman and Robin Lester Kenton. Our music composer is Billy Libby.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Bonus Episode: Missing Them

The&nbsp; <a href="http://queensmemory.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Queens Memory Project</a> &nbsp;brings you the 10th episode of season two of the Queens Memory Podcast. This season we have collected the documented experiences of Queens residents during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
 In our final episode of season two, we hear once again from Queens residents about their hopes and fears for the future, as well as one quarantine wedding, 20 years in the making.

<description>&lt;p&gt;The&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://queensmemory.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;Queens Memory Project&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;brings you the 10th episode of season two of the&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://bio.fm/queensmemory" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;Queens Memory Podcast.&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;This season we have collected the documented experiences of Queens residents during the COVID-19 Pandemic.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In our final episode of season two, we hear once again from Queens residents about their hopes and fears for the future, as well as one quarantine wedding, 20 years in the making.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;On the final episode of season two of Queens Memory Podcast, we begin with a 20-year love story. Kate O&amp;rsquo;Connell and Michael Scott Robinson first met in an acting class. The pair recount their first kiss, their courtship, getting engaged in 2013, and Kate&amp;rsquo;s cancer diagnosis one month before their original wedding date in 2018. &amp;ldquo;I wasn&amp;rsquo;t going to do &amp;lsquo;tragic bald bride.&amp;rsquo; Nope. That&amp;rsquo;s not me,&amp;rdquo; she said. So they postponed. Kate got better. And they set a new wedding date for 2020. Their plans were once again derailed -- this time by COVID-19.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kate, an ER nurse who has worked in a hospital throughout the pandemic, quarantined from Scott in their own house. Fear and stress and all the feelings that have struck some people throughout these trying times ultimately inspired the pair to hold a virtual wedding. &amp;ldquo;I realized that we still had this amazing celebration that we were entitled to, that we could create and share,&amp;rdquo; said Scott.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Listen to Kate and Scott&amp;rsquo;s wedding vows and hear about how they created a little bit of happiness for themselves, their family, and friends.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Later in the episode, we hear one more time from Queens residents about what they believe life &amp;ldquo;after COVID&amp;rdquo; will look like. From fears about students being left behind in their schooling, to hope that the traditional in-person working environment will be reimagined, even after it&amp;rsquo;s safe to come back; our Queens neighbors remain vigilant and hopeful. Many are rightfully determined that the Black Lives Matter movement, which sparked nationwide&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/03/us/george-floyd-protests-crowd-size.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;protests&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;this summer, remains active and that conversations continue and work toward equal rights and equal treatment is never ceased.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Individuals whose voices can be heard in this segment are: Tunisia Morrison, Tiffany Nealy, Yvette Ramirez, Khaair Morrison, Assemblywoman Alicia Hyndman, Richard Parker, Aleeia Abraham, Shante Spivey, Keshia Desmarattes, Ty Hankerson, and Franck Joseph.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To close out the final episode, our whole team shared what they hope for the future after COVID, and reminisced on their favorite memories of the season.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This episode of the Queens Memory podcast was produced by Jordan Gass-Poore&amp;rsquo;, in conjunction with Anna Williams, Giulia Hjort, Syreeta Gates, Jo-Ann Wong, and Natalie Milbrodt.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Editing by Anna Williams and mixing by Briana Stodden, with music composed by Elias Ravin, the Blue Dot Sessions, Audio Network, as well as, Dale Stuckenbruck (violin) and Heawon Kim ( piano), who played "The Marriage of Figaro" during Kate O&amp;rsquo;Connell&amp;rsquo;s and Michael Scott Robinson&amp;rsquo;s Zoom wedding ceremony.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Special thanks for funding support from the New York Community Trust. Queens Memory is an ongoing community archiving program by the Queens Public Library and Queens College, CUNY.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Episode 10: Gathering

The <a href="http://queensmemory.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Queens Memory Project</a> brings you the ninth episode of season two of the Queens Memory Podcast. This season we have collected the documented experiences of Queens residents during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
 In this episode, we hear from artists and creatives in Queens about how they have managed to shine through the pandemic, by finding innovative and fun ways to express themselves while staying safe.

<description>&lt;p&gt;The&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://queensmemory.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;Queens Memory Project&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;brings you the ninth episode of season two of the&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://bio.fm/queensmemory" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;Queens Memory Podcast&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; This season we have collected the documented experiences of Queens residents during the COVID-19 Pandemic.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In this episode, we hear from artists and creatives in Queens about how they have managed to shine through the pandemic, by finding innovative and fun ways to express themselves while staying safe.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In mid-March, as the pandemic was starting to take hold in New York City, Governor Cuomo&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/gov-cuomo-bans-gatherings-more-500-people-new-york-state-n1157086" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;issued&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp; a ban on gatherings of 500 people or more -- a move that would prove to be only the beginning of great steps taken to slow the spread of COVID-19. That same day, Broadway went&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://www.playbill.com/article/broadway-goes-dark-amid-coronavirus-concerns" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;dark.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Restrictions grew tighter in the following weeks, and soon enough, public spaces were closed and New York became a vastly different city. Faced with new social distancing rules, members of the arts community did what they do best: They got creative.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="https://newyork.craigslist.org/que/art/d/astoria-line-drawings-by-crockett-doob/7202899585.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;Crockett Doob,&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp; a writer and drummer from Queens, plays drums on a makeshift setup at 33rd Street and Astoria Boulevard so he won&amp;rsquo;t disturb his neighbors. When he lived in Sunnyside, he played on the 39th Street bridge, where he enjoyed the noise of the traffic which allowed him to play as loudly as possible. Now, playing in a more exposed location, he enjoys the anonymity wearing a mask allows him, so he can play as excitedly as he wants.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/maderich/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;Richard Parker&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;is a tattoo artist in Queens and the designer of the Black Lives Matter&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://www.artmaderich.com/blog/c5gnr5dr10l78a5kl50xya4cokcwma" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;mural&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;on Jamaica Avenue. Having spent his entire life weaving through the borough, from Corona to Bayside to Flushing and beyond, Parker calls himself a &amp;ldquo;Queens mutt.&amp;rdquo;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Parker sees the world coming to a standstill as an opportunity for artists, &amp;ldquo;Now is the time to do what you want to do, especially in New York City.&amp;rdquo; By designing the BLM mural and his other art projects, Parker says he has been called an &amp;ldquo;activist&amp;rdquo; by the community, a title which he says he obtained simply by expressing himself through his art.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Lifelong Queens resident Sapphira Martin is a dancer, podcast producer, and writer. She and her mother are the owners of dance studio,&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Dance-Studio/Its-Dance-242098185813633/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;It&amp;rsquo;s Dance at the Brown Barre.&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;She is also co-host of&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://soundcloud.com/blackgirlpodcast" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;The Black Girl Podcast,&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;alongside four other proud and strong black women. She has focused during the pandemic on supporting her Queens community. She leads classes via&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/sapphiraem/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;Instagram&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;for her dance students and continues to work remotely on her podcast and subscription box service,&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://sassboxx-llc.square.site/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;SassBoxx,&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;co-curated by Martin for black women. She has leaned heavily into her creative outlets over the last few months, and the Black Lives Matter resurgence that took place this summer drove Martin further to create and show up.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;Black lives have always and will always matter,&amp;rdquo; she says.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This episode of Queens Memory was produced by Jordan Gass-Poore in conjunction with Theresa Gaffney, Anna Williams, Syreeta Gates, Briana Stodden, Jo-Ann Wong, and Natalie Milbrodt. This episode was edited by Anna Williams with mixing by Briana Stodden and music composed by Elias Ravin and the Blue Dot Sessions.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Special thanks for funding support from the New York Community Trust. Queens Memory is an ongoing community archiving program by the Queens Public Library and Queens College, CUNY.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Episode 9: Creating

The <a href="http://queensmemory.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Queens Memory Project</a> brings you the eighth episode of season two of the Queens Memory Podcast. This season we have collected the documented experiences of Queens residents during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
 On this episode, we hear from educators of different backgrounds about how virtual learning has impacted their students and the way they do their jobs.

<description>&lt;p&gt;The&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://queensmemory.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;Queens Memory Project&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;brings you the eighth episode of season two of the&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://bio.fm/queensmemory" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;Queens Memory Podcast&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; This season we have collected the documented experiences of Queens residents during the COVID-19 Pandemic.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On this episode, we hear from educators of different backgrounds about how virtual learning has impacted their students and the way they do their jobs.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;On March 15, 2020, Mayor De Blasio&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/15/nyregion/nyc-schools-closed.html?auth=login-email&amp;amp;login=email" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;announced&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;New York City schools would close to slow the spread of COVID-19. On March 23, 1.1 million students and 75,000 teachers in the city switched to remote learning. Less than two weeks later, De Blasio&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/01/nyregion/coronavirus-new-york-update.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;extended&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;the closure to the end of the school year. As of the publishing of this podcast, NYC schools&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/21/nyregion/prek-school-reopening-nyc.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;remain closed&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;for most children.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tiffany Davis-Nealy, of South Ozone Park, traveled the world as an education consultant before becoming the principal of PS 165 in Flushing. Davis-Nealy was a motivated student, raised in Bed-Stuy at PS 40 and transferred to PS 121 in Queens in the fifth grade, where her mother fought for her to be placed in advanced classes. Nealy felt destined to be an educator because she wanted to be like one of the teachers who shaped her life so positively. She majored in psychology and education in college and then began her career in Harlem in the 1990s. Nealy would later work for Columbia University, PS 21, and finally, currently, at PS 165.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nealy states she has learned a lot about her students since the onset of COVID-19 and the switch to virtual learning. She has noticed a higher level of food insecurity among the families than she had previously been aware of. In fact, Flushing is what is known as a food desert -- where there are fewer than&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://data.ny.gov/Economic-Development/Retail-Food-Stores/9a8c-vfzj/data" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;10 retail food stores&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;per 10,000 residents. Nealy notes that many of her students had relied on lunches received in school as their primary food source. While&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://www.nycfoodpolicy.org/coronavirus-nyc-food-resource-guide-kew-gardens-woodhaven/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;organizations&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;and the&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://qns.com/2020/08/queens-public-school-parents-to-receive-420-per-child-eligible-for-food-benefits-under-new-federal-government-program/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;city&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;have stepped up to help provide meals, there remains a struggle to support families and make virtual learning work for everyone.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Shawn Chandler, an attendance teacher for the Department of Education, is eager to help people through the uncertain future of the pandemic. Born in Queens, Chandler has worked for the DoE for 15 years, where he tracks down young adults who have stopped attending school for various reasons and helps get them on a course to graduation. Chandler also owns&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-chandler-a9104613/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;Sing 2 School Inc.,&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;a hip-hop educational company.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Predictions have been made far and wide about what schools will&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://www.unicef.org/coronavirus/what-will-return-school-during-covid-19-pandemic-look" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;look like&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;when they reopen amid COVID-19, what the US can learn from&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://laschoolreport.com/photo-tour-what-school-class-safety-look-like-in-8-countries-around-the-world-as-students-return-after-coronavirus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;other countries&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;about safely reopening, and even what schools will&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://www.wfsb.com/news/the-future-of-ct-educators-predict-what-schools-will-look-like-after-the-covid-19/article_6dd78aa6-9963-11ea-911f-3bb57dc1a81f.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;look like&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;years after the pandemic has ebbed.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chandler has his own theories. While he acknowledges that the implementation of remote learning has&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/schools-coronavirus-remote-learning-lockdown-tech-11591375078" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;not been seamless&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;and that the practice itself is&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/learning/what-students-are-saying-about-remote-learning.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;not for everyone,&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;he predicts that hybrid-lessons and attending in-person a few days a week will be much more common in coming years. Chandler is hopeful that whatever changes are coming to the education system will be effective in keeping students in school.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Remote learning has been especially difficult for students with special needs and their families. These students who require the most direct support in a classroom have suddenly had to transition to learning at home with their families. In New York City,&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://www.thecity.nyc/education/2020/6/17/21295189/nyc-special-education-students-remote-learning-struggles" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;228,000 children&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;with disabilities have been affected by the closure as&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2020/04/10/nyc-gives-the-ok-to-shrink-special-education-services-amid-coronavirus-upheaval/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;services&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;have changed.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Keisha Desmarattes is a lifelong Queens resident and a special education teacher. Formerly a social worker, Desmarates earned her MA in social work in 2014. She recalls teachers scrambling to prepare for what teaching is going to look like this fall. When the closures began, most teachers assumed it would be back to normal by September. Desmarates laments the&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/nyregion/special-education-coronavirus-nyc.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;disadvantages&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;her students experience with remote learning, but she is committed to ensuring they receive all the care and support she can provide. She notes her dream of opening a women&amp;rsquo;s youth center for young girls to gain the tools to succeed.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Shant&amp;eacute; Spivey is principal at a school for special education in Queens. She has always chosen to work with children who have special needs as she holds out hope for those who people feel can not learn. Spivey has noticed many difficulties her students and their&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2020/03/01/nyc-special-ed-crisis-draws-attention-of-state-education-officials-1264626" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;caregivers&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;have faced since the switch to remote learning. She recalls one student who lives with a grandmother and has one tablet and unreliable WiFi for 11 people who live in the home.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This week, NYC&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2020/09/21/schools-reopen-for-fraction-of-new-york-city-students-1317643" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;students&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;with advanced special needs returned for in-person instruction.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Both Spivey and Desmarates advocate for better support for special education students and commit to providing the best services they can for the community that they whole-heartedly support and see the potential in.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;If you can tap into children in the manner that you need to, this world would explode,&amp;rdquo; said Spivey.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This episode of Queens Memory was produced by Jordan Gass-Poore in conjunction with Syreeta Gates, Theresa Gaffney, Anna Williams, Jo-Ann Wong, and Natalie Milbrodt. This episode was edited by Anna Williams with mixing by Briana Stodden and music composed by Elias Ravin and the Blue Dot Sessions.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Special thanks for funding support from the New York Community Trust. Queens Memory is an ongoing community archiving program by the Queens Public Library and Queens College, CUNY.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Episode 8: Learning

On Thursday, April 9th, 2020 the Queens Memory Project launched a COVID-19 documentation project in Queens, New York. The project, found at https://queenslib.org/covid, has the active support of a broad coalition of cultural organizations and citizen historians organized to document this extraordinary moment in Queens history. These are the stories shared by Queens residents who are living, working, learning, and helping one another during this unprecedented time.

The Borough We Became: Queens Residents On Life During COVID-19

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