By Megan Stringer/The Wichita Eagle
• May 3, 2021 Wichita Journalism Collaborative
After more than a year of quarantines, business closures and working from home, some have realized that the difficulties brought on by the pandemic will stay with us for years to come.
COVID-19 raised collective awareness around mental health and well being, said Jessica Provines, assistant vice president for student affairs and wellness at Wichita State University.
At the same time people might seek out mental health care for the first time, many have lost their employer-sponsored health insurance after a layoff, or realized their existing coverage doesn’t include counseling or therapy.
I worked in television for 13 years before quitting to go into teaching in 1986. Becoming a teacher was the second best decision I ever made. (As I have said many times before, the first was asking Ellen to marry me.) That said, like most jobs when started as the Channel 8 Art Director, the best thing I experienced were the people I worked with and became friends with. Great people like Mark Quade (Mark and I started on the same day.), Don âCaseyâ Stingl, Fritz Black, Greg Lenz, Tom French, Mike Miller, Tina Dahl, Nancy Dahl, Ed Seilestad, Karen Gillster, Larry Johnson, John Hoffland, Hugh McDowell, Larry Nagy, Mel Johnson, Harry Opsahl, Mike Opsahl, Lee and Ken Hitter, Randy Swiggum, Amy Bie, Clark Schafer, Vivian Strong, Art Fahey, Stanley Rieder, Tom Wirkus, Terry Wirkus, Bob Russell, Al Leeman, Gene Carlson, Jan Manchester, Diane Elsen, JoAnn Manske, Evelyn Oliver, Clutch Wadium and so, so many more.