Andrea Marcano and Mrs. Marcano

Andrea Marcano, a student at Orange Brooke Elementry School, is entering 1st grade, her favorite pink mask in hand.

“I don’t like it. It makes my face hot,” the first-grader said, “but I like pink and I helped mommy make it.” 

Marcano’s mother doesn’t like it either, but due to her work schedule, the single-mom has to send her child to school. 

“I’m scared she is going to come home infected with that awful plague,” said Marcano, “I worry about her every day.” 

Marcano works as an accountant, a desk job that doesn’t require much face-to-face interaction. Even so, she wears a mask and keeps her distance. 

“It’s just hard not knowing if the people around me are sick, and with my daughter, at home, it can be scary,” Mrs.Marcano said.

She is afraid that the kids at her child’s school won’t be able to comprehend the importance of social distancing, and she has drilled into her daughter that in order to not get sick she must follow the rules. 

Aside from fearing her daughter will be exposed to the virus, Marcano isn’t happy about her daughter wearing a mask all day. She’s concerned it will affect her social development.

“Wearing masks for six or more hours and not being able to make friends with her classmates is going to affect her socially at this age,” said Marcano, “but I want my child to be safe, and this is the best option I have.”