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COVID-19 Archives Project

Friends Apart:
An Archive of the MFS Community During the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020

MFS community members are invited to reflect on this shared global experience as we live through the COVID-19 pandemic. So that we may serve as a historical resource about this time for those who will follow us at MFS, we want to preserve our community’s thoughts on this collective experience and to capture our stories of resilience and hope. Thanks to the Burlington County Historical Society for providing inspiration and resources to help the school advance this effort.

If you or your child(ren) are interested in submitting writing, artwork, photography, poetry, or audio/video content capturing your reflections, please fill out the appropriate form below.

Thanks to those who submitted reflections when this project was first announced in the summer of 2020.  Some writings and artwork are included in the Fall 2020 issue of Among Friends. To see the full listing of all reflections submitted as of October 2020, click here.

Prompts and Queries

The following are the prompts or queries that you are invited to consider.  While the forms include response tabs for each of the questions, you are welcome to complete only one or as many as you’d like.  Participants may respond to the queries in the following formats: letters, stories, poetry, audio/video recording, artwork, photography, etc.

Questions/Prompts for Lower School students and those age 12 and under:
  • What would you want students at MFS in the future to know about what this time has meant for you? What advice would you give them?
  • How did you feel about remote learning? What was the best part about learning from home? What was the worst part?
  • What are the greatest challenges you have faced during the pandemic?
  • What do you miss the most when you were living under stay-at-home orders?
  • What are ways that you have found joy in the past few months?
  • Are there other observations about this time that you’d like to share for the Archival collection?

Click here to submit responses to Questions/Prompts for Lower School Students and those aged 12 and under.

Questions/Prompts for students age 13 and older, and all adults:
  • Consider how your experience as a member of a Quaker school has impacted your perspective on the COVID-19 pandemic. Have you thought of the values central to the MFS community while you have been in isolation, and how have they framed your worldview during this unprecedented time?
  • If you had to sum up your experience over the past few months for future generations, what would be the first words that came to mind? And why?  What advice or words of wisdom would you offer for future generations about getting through this difficult time?
  • How did you feel about remote learning? What was the best part about learning from home? What was the worst part?
  • What are the greatest challenges you have faced during the pandemic?
  • What do you miss the most when you were living under stay-at-home orders?
  • What are ways that you have found joy in the past few months? What silver linings have you found during this global pandemic?
  • How have you felt supported by the MFS community during the pandemic? In what ways have you experienced that support?
  • Are there other observations about this time that you’d like to share for the Archival collection?

Click here to submit response(s) to Questions/Prompts for Students aged 13 and older, and all adults.

Terms and Guidelines

Adapted with permission from the Burlington County Historical Society’s Project: “Remembering COVID-19 A Local Perspective”

  • All Children 13 and under must have permission by a guardian. 
  • By submitting content through this form, you are granting MFS non-exclusive (shared), royalty-free license to preserve, modify, and share your content for educational use, exhibits, or publication, including in print or online.
  • MFS reserves the right to remove content that it considers inappropriate or outside the theme of this project. MFS is not obligated to include your content in this project or preserve it in perpetuity.
  • Please only submit photographic, audio, or video material which you own or have created. 
  • Submissions will be archived in a digital collection. Selected submissions may be printed in school publications and featured on our website.
  • You retain the rights to your story.
  • At any time, you have the right to request your story be removed from the website.