嘿嘿视频

The Essentials

Three alumni share their experiences as essential workers right now.

Chris and Sarah Ferren-Cirino
Chris and Sarah Ferren-Cirino own Sac Brew Bike and Boat. (Gregory Urquiaga)

While the international COVID-19 pandemic has driven many inside their homes, millions of people continue to do essential work. Small businesses have utilized creative ways to continue to offer their services to the community, newsrooms have moved into living rooms, and students and teachers alike have adapted to remote learning. 嘿嘿视频 Magazine spoke with three alumni who are reflecting on their experiences as essential workers right now. 

Sarah Ferren-Cirino 鈥09 and her husband, Chris 鈥07, have owned the Sacramento Brew Bike and Boat since 2014, offering private pub crawls around town. What started as one bike grew to a six-bike and two-boat operation, with a taproom space in Midtown. 

Due to the impacts of the pandemic, they have had to stop the pub crawls but are still providing beer and wine to the community. 

Ferren-Cirino partnered with her sister Stevie Stacionis and her husband鈥檚 beer and wine bottle shop Bay Grape, based in Oakland. Sac Brew Bike began selling Bay Grape鈥檚 inventory to their Sacramento customers, offering pre-order cases of beer and wine. 

The key is being flexible, Ferren-Cirino said. She now spends her days staying updated on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and state regulations, as well as advertising the business on social media. 

鈥淗ow do you create a business plan or policy in terms of making a comfortable work environment, for both your customers and your employees during this challenging time?鈥 she said. 鈥淭here are so many question marks, a lot of which are driven by social norms, but social norms have been blown apart at this point. It鈥檚 a challenge.鈥 

Ferren-Cirino said she hopes to utilize their six bikes for socially distanced rides in the future. And although business looks different today, the goal is the same. 

鈥淥ur business model is based on a sense of community and a gathering place where people feel safe. It鈥檚 a way for people to celebrate. We鈥檙e hoping we can go back to that, but we are doing these offsite sales right now to hopefully bring some brightness into people鈥檚 lives,鈥 said Ferren-Cirino. 鈥淲e鈥檙e being creative while safety conscious.鈥 

Sawsan Morrar
Sawsan Morrar in 2017. (Courtesy)

Creative strategies have become a common theme. Sawsan Morrar 鈥06, a reporter at the Sacramento Bee, continues to report the news while taking care to remain safe. 鈥淪omeone actually made face masks that say 鈥Sacramento Bee鈥 on them, so we are easily identifiable as reporters,鈥 she said. 

Morrar began working from home in mid-March. 鈥淚 have a makeshift office,鈥 Morrar explained, 鈥渁nd all of the press conferences are virtual now. However, there are still times that I鈥檒l go out in person, to take interviews and work with a photographer, to find sources, to speak with people.鈥 

Meeting with people in the field is essential to the work of a journalist. 鈥淲hile a lot of reporting and research can be done through email or online, there is a really important element of meeting people in person, to gain the trust of our sources.鈥 

To do so safely, Morrar wears a face mask and even gloves. When she returns home, she changes out of her clothing immediately. 鈥淥n one occasion, I completely washed up and everything, to make sure I鈥檓 re-entering my home clean.鈥 

But to Morrar, the added safety measures are worthwhile. 

鈥淢eeting people face to face adds so much to the story,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to do our job and inform the public what鈥檚 happening around them and hold officials accountable. That way people can make informed decisions during this pandemic.鈥 

She is also keenly aware that she is simultaneously reporting during this time of crisis and living through it. 鈥淓verything I鈥檝e been reporting is directly affecting me,鈥 she said. 鈥淭here are times when I haven鈥檛 been able to sit down and let the information sink in. It鈥檚 not denial, but I鈥檓 working at a fast pace, trying to get the news out there.鈥 

To remain grounded, Morrar goes on long walks on trails around her home and enjoys bike rides. 鈥淢y colleagues are so resilient, and we鈥檝e been able to adapt to such big changes,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 think the concept of a 鈥榥ew normal鈥 frightens people, but the last two months have shown me we鈥檙e going to be OK. We are all much more resilient than we realize.鈥 

Lauren Yayesaki
Lauren Yayesaki as a student teacher at David Lubin Elementary School in Sacramento in 2017. (Gregory Urquiaga)

Even some of the youngest people impacted by the pandemic are proving their resilience every day. 鈥淢y 10- and 11-year-old students are attending Zoom office hours. They are advocating for themselves, their grades, and their learning,鈥 said Lauren Yayesaki, M.A. 鈥18, a history teacher at David Lubin Elementary School in Sacramento. 

Yayesaki, with her teaching partner, previously taught 66 students every day. Now Yayesaki instructs her class of fourth and fifth graders through Zoom and Google Classroom. 

The transition has been challenging, she said. 鈥淚n a classroom setting, it鈥檚 easy for me to walk over and see that someone is not engaged and I can modify accordingly. Luckily, I can still anticipate my student鈥檚 needs because I鈥檝e had them for two trimesters now, but the disconnect is there. They can鈥檛 just come over and ask for help.鈥 

Despite the physical distance, Yayesaki has kept her students engaged through thoughtful discussions and creative approaches. 鈥淥n Monday, we had a conversation about George Floyd,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e learned about other forms of protest in American history, like the Civil Rights Movement and the Suffragette Movement, I really wanted to compare this to other kinds of protests in history and what鈥檚 going on today. Sometimes it鈥檚 hard to connect things, but if you can connect events in the past to a form of protest happening now it鈥檚 easier for students to understand.鈥 

Yayesaki has also tried to recreate the social aspect of the classroom setting. 鈥淲e have Zoom parties every Friday night. We play games,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great time to talk to them, socialize and hear their thoughts on how Google Classroom has been working. It鈥檚 really helpful.鈥 

The shift to remote learning has increased the time Yayesaki spends working, a new commonality among teachers. She鈥檚 had to quickly learn technologies and put together her materials in different ways. 

Yayesaki said she relies on her network of teacher friends across the U.S. to share ideas and discuss remote learning struggles. Connecting and debriefing with them has offered support and guidance. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 very important to me to make sure my students feel like their voices are heard,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 want them to know that just because I don鈥檛 see you every day, it doesn鈥檛 mean I don鈥檛 care about you.鈥

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