Blake’s Flu Outbreak of 2025

It’s that time of year again. Flu season hit the Blake community hard. In a Blake Bear Bugle survey with 151 responses, 63% of middle schoolers reported having had some sort of illness in the month of December alone. To many, it seemed the wave of disease was much harsher than in the past.

The Glow Dance

The sixth-grade glow dance on December 5 may have been a super spreader event. According to Mr. Tyler Libert, there was one day when about 20% of the sixth graders were absent for illness during the week following the dance. The sixth graders got sick first, but soon after the disease spread to the 7th and 8th graders, and some teachers as well.

Effects on Classes

In the survey, many students reported that in some of their classes, around half the kids were missing. This became a serious problem for teachers. Class-wide graded discussions became harder to hold because only a few students get the benefits of voicing their opinions to classmates. Group projects became difficult to assign because students could be left alone to do all of the work in a group with students who are ill. Tests became a pain because absent students have to take them during a different time slot, usually missing recess or X-block (study hall). In choir class, one student reported that they had to sing their part alone because the rest of their section was sick.

Stopping the Spread

Many students who were sick came to school because they were worried they would fall behind on schoolwork. This was not okay, because: 1. Students should be resting so they can heal from their illness faster, and

2. Going to school when one is sick gets lots of other students sick as well. A student expressed their concerns in the survey, saying, “I believe that people should stay home when they are sick. Going to school with the flu stinks, and [is] getting everybody else sick! It is an idiotic cycle!”

Academic Stress

Blake does not have a good system for allowing students who missed class due to sickness to catch up on schoolwork. Currently, Blake encourages students to rest while they are sick. When the student returns to school, Blake expects them to catch up on the work they missed, in addition to staying on top of the new homework assigned, in order to maintain a regular class pace.

This causes all the work to pile up, which can become really overwhelming, especially if one misses a longer period of time due to a severe illness.

Many students, felt “incredibly stressed [and overwhelmed] about homework,” after returning to school. Someone added, “I’m drowning in work, and failing a class because I missed so much. It feels impossible for me to get caught up because when I complete one thing, then a new assignment is [added].”

How to Stay Safe

Many factors will help lower your chances of getting sick this school year.

1. Good Hygiene

Make sure you wash your hands, sneeze into your elbow, use tissues, drink lots of water, wear masks, etc.

2. Get Vaccinated

Please stay up to date on your vaccines! It makes school so much safer for everyone.

3. Don’t come to school if you are sick!

"Shouldn't people who are sick feel comfortable going home? Shouldn't they be able to get the rest they need, and prevent further spread?"

"I still went to school even when I had a 103 fever. I just didn't want to miss school and homework."

"It is really sad to see half of my dance class out sick and not be able to really practice."