‘Everything Started Going Crazy’: North Florida Girl Scouts Selling Cookies Amid A Pandemic
By Audrey Mostek
February 5, 2021
Ambassador Darian Pisano of Troop 107 in Gainesville loves selling Girl Scout Cookies.
Her first season, 10 years ago, she found that selling 1,000 boxes would mean a free week of camp. Most Girl Scouts sell 200-300 boxes a season, but Darian reached her goal. Last year, the 17-year-old junior at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School sold 3,504 boxes.
“This year, because of everything, my goal is only 1,500 again,” she said recently.
By everything, Darian means trying to sell cookies during the coronavirus pandemic.
In-person booth sales of Girl Scout Cookies typically happen January to March.
More than 700 Alachua County Public School students and staff in quarantine
This increase continues to be tied to athletes who have tested positive on sports teams Photo by Kate McNamara | The Independent Florida Alligator
In its fourth week of classes, Alachua County Public School District has 702 students and faculty in quarantine, according to the school district’s COVID-19 dashboard.
Under protocol, those in quarantine reflect positive cases, people who have had significant contact with someone who is positive, and in the case of sports teams, if an athlete or coach tests positive, the entire team must go into quarantine. ACPS’s total enrollment is 26,642 students as of Jan. 26.
Daniel Czyz, Ph.D., assistant professor at the University of Florida, is one of 10 researchers exploring the link between an infectious agent and Alzheimer’s disease who have each been awarded $100,000 research grants through the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) Foundation’s Microbial Pathogenesis in Alzheimer’s Disease Grant program. Since the program was established in 2018, the IDSA Foundation has provided more than $600,000 to seven researchers, making the 2020 awardees the largest recipient pool to date. The program will provide an additional pilot grant of $8,000 to begin research and initial data collection for a dementia study in Uganda.
Based on early evidence, experts believe an infectious agent or a microbial mechanism may have a connection to Alzheimer’s disease, according to a news release from IDSA. To advance research that could shed light and provide hope to the more than 5.7 million Americans and 47 million people worldwide living with the
Buchholz High School’s former band director resigned from his position Thursday, citing personal reasons.
Shawn Barat’s termination was up for a School Board vote after an internal investigation by the district determined he sent messages of a sexual nature to a student. The decision was put on hold after the 47-year-old Buchholz music teacher launched a union grievance, allowable by the teachers union s collective bargaining agreement.
Thursday, he submitted his letter of resignation. School district officials said he cited personal reasons for the exit on his separation-from-service form.