Throughout 2020, the many essential workers — from store cashiers to nurses to teachers — helped bring some normalcy to an otherwise, in so many ways, abnormal time.

For their efforts throughout a 2020 calendar year so heavily impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, Newtown essential workers are being recognized for their efforts with the Newtown Bee’s award for Sportsman of the Year, named in honor of former Newtown Bee Sports Editor Kim Harmon.

“I appreciate the fact we have Newtown residents out there doing their best to keep some level of normalcy during such a challenging time,” said Newtown’s Aaron Carlson, adding that teachers are making a huge difference for children in town. “They’ve done an amazing job to give kids something,” said Carlson, a parent who has been involved with coaching youth sports throughout the years.

“Since the first days of the pandemic, when we all lived with the fear of the unknown, I have been amazed by the employees of our local grocery stores who have served our community without interruption. Despite their personal concerns and the ever-changing safety policies and procedures, they have smiled, offered assistance, and made it possible for all of us to take care of ourselves and our families. I deeply appreciate each one of them,” Newtown’s Rori Sughrue said.

“As a mother of three college students and one high school student, I appreciate the tremendous effort and dedication of our teachers and nurses who quickly adapted to new teaching environments, new technology, and the increased stress and anxiety of their students while managing their own personal challenges. They have taught our children life lessons that go far beyond the classroom, and we are truly grateful to all of them," Sughrue added.

Sughrue and her family were directly impacted during the holidays because her daughter Julia tested positive for coronavirus.

“We were quarantined over Christmas. Julia had COVID, but none of the rest of us got it, which was a blessing,” Sughrue said. “She had flu-like symptoms but thank God nothing more serious, and she made a complete recovery. We were all able to get tested when we needed to, we all quarantined at home, and luckily none of the rest of us got it. We definitely felt very blessed.”

“I think that Newtown is very fortunate to have a school nurse embedded in each school community to help manage the public health challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. School nurses have always focused on the prevention and control of infectious disease in the school environment. The nurses’ understanding of the science behind epidemiology and their role as trusted health advocates makes them ideal COVID 19 educators and contact tracers for students, staff, and families in their school communities,” said Newtown Public Schools Nursing Supervisor, Anne Dalton, RN, BSN.

“The pandemic has added a long list of new responsibilities to the school nurse’s already busy day. The nurses are involved in every aspect of COVID management in school, from educating students and staff on prevention to acting as the point of contact in their buildings for any report of a positive COVID-19 case. Nurses are maintaining detailed records of cases reported and of school contacts of those cases. They are also doing the time-consuming and important work of contact tracing to limit the spread of the virus,” Dalton added.

“The nurses are very grateful to the community for their ongoing support and teamwork. It is important as we wait for vaccines to become widely available, that everyone stay strongly committed to the protective measures that have helped us to keep schools safe so far. Our mantra is: Wash Up! Mask Up! Back Up!” Dalton said.

Newtown’s Shannon Paproski, a registered nurse at Waterbury Hospital in the emergency department, noted that she and other nurses see a lot of sick people and go to work with the possibility of bringing the virus home.

“But it’s what we love to do — taking care of people,” said Paproski, adding that other essential workers are putting themselves at risk just as much as nurses.

“Everyone’s doing their part and everyone’s putting themselves at risk to keep the flow of life going,” Paproski said.

Newtown High School Principal Dr Kimberly Longobucco praised the efforts of the teachers and nurses in looking out for the best interests of the students.

“I think everybody has gone above and beyond this year,” Longobucco said.

Nurses have had added responsibilities, including communication with parents about quarantining protocol, said Longobucco, who has handled working with teachers, making sure they are set up for remote teaching and ensuring substitutes are in place in the classrooms.

“It’s just remarkable to watch how much time and effort they have put into one positive case,” Longobucco said.

Jason “J” Edwards, a history teacher at the high school, said that with teachers having to instruct students in the class as well as virtually, the workload is significantly greater than double what it once was. Edwards likens the extra task to something a friend and fellow teacher once told him, which is that learning to run and juggle separately may be simple enough, but try to do both at once and it is quite the task.

“The kids are excited to be back,” Edwards said of some students returning to in-class learning after a stretch in which all teaching and learning was virtual, adding that teachers and students are looking forward to the day all students are back in the classrooms full time.

Edwards, also the public address announcer for NHS sporting events, is also thrilled that winter sports are set to begin in early February.

Emma Boland, an employee at The Toy Tree, 14 Church Hill Road, shares the perspective and likely some of the same experiences many store workers have had, that they are all taking a risk being at work and occasionally have customers who do not follow the mask-wearing protocol.

“I was really concerned about being here,” Boland said of her first days back at work when the store reopened during the summer.

Boland and her grandparents, including store manager Jo Ann and her husband Stephen Whiting, live in the same house. Boland said they have not returned to stores to shop since March, and she is concerned about bringing the virus home. In an effort to do their part, Boland and coworker Mackenzie Roche, both college students, wear masks, use hand sanitizer, and wipe down the front counter between each transaction.

“It was a little weird getting used to wearing a mask for eight hours on end,” said Roche, who was accustomed to not needing a mask for any substantial length of time while engaging in distance learning.

Both store workers say they got used to wearing masks. There was one instance in which a customer pulled her mask below her chin and had to be asked to pull it up, and another in which a customer gave them a hard time about using sanitizer, suggesting it was not only not necessary but would do more harm than good. By and large, shoppers have been cooperative, Boland and Roche said.

First responders are essential workers putting themselves at risk on any given day even in a typical year. Police have a lot of interaction with the public, and Newtown Police Lieutenant Aaron Bahamonde said the Newtown PD has handled more cases over the phone than in the past to limit in-person contact. There has been an increase in crisis intervention calls as a result of the pandemic causing more people to be home, and there are always arrests Bahamonde said, so on-site interaction with people is unavoidable.

The police department has taken many precautions, including wiping down cars, Bahamonde said, and the department has been rewarded with no coronavirus cases among its patrol officers.

Bahamonde said that the true heroes, he believes, are the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance workers, especially given their efforts during the early stages of the virus when there were so many unknowns.

The cooperation of everybody in town with following coronavirus protocol has been essential to the essential workers doing their jobs effectively.

“We couldn’t do it without our community’s help. They’ve been awesome and understanding,” Bahamonde said.