The COVID-19 Pandemic has drastically changed everyone’s lives. This holds true for English teacher Jodi Drake. 

She is a mother to 2 elementary students in the district and married to former Neenah Cross Country coach Jesse Drake. Before the outbreak, Mrs. Drake had a fairly cookie-cutter routine. She gets home a short while after school where she’s greeted by her kids and husband who are back from school and work respectively; however, this all changed last spring.

Drake describes the shift to online last year as rapid, sudden and unexpected. This change also meant that now during the day she and her husband would have to both do their full-time jobs while also keeping their kids both focused on school work and entertained. 

Good thing this couple, who met on the track team in college, have lots of experience jumping over hurdles as this proved to be one of the biggest.

Fortunately for Mrs. Drake, her husband Jesse’s job allowed him to work partly from home, allowing her to focus on her job.

Now that we have again shifted all online, he has fortunately been able to work completely from home.

“He is home to support me . . . we need to double team. It’s just too much.”

Although she hopes this isn’t the new norm, her family has still managed to stay happy through tough times. She makes sure to put a pause on work every night to make sure she spends quality time with the family. They make sure they go on a family walk or bike ride every day and give the kids ample time to play outside.

While she feels for her students who are struggling, she is trying her hardest to make the best out of a bad situation and take everything day by day.