In the first Star Wars movie—you know with the Jawas, Sand People, Greedo, “Let the Wookie win” and the trash monster—there’s a scene on the Millenium Falcon where Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi instructs Luke Skywalker in his first lesson with The Force.

A training remote hovers and darts in front of Luke as he attempts to defend himself with his lightsaber but he is stung by the lasers it fires at him nonetheless.

After Han Solo derides his pupil’s performance and general belief in The Force itself, Ben fits Luke with a helmet, the blast shield lowered so he can no longer see the remote, and encourages him to “Stretch out with your feelings.”

Luke successfully deflects several of the orange lasers in quick succession with the glowing green beam of his saber.

Unphased, Solo attributes Skywalder’s performance to luck to which Kenobi replies:

“In my experience there’s no such thing as luck.”

Mine too. 

And as of Monday, March 7—the date on which Governor Dan McKee statewide masking requirement in schools and state offices effectively ended—I’m not willing to leave my health as a public school teacher in Rhode Island up to chance either.

Recent trends in declining COVID-19 average case rates, hospitalizations, deaths, etc., in our state indicate that “unmasking” or making mask-wearing optional for almost all of our students, teachers and school staff members is a sensible thing to do.

However, I teach at Barrington High School where 60 teenagers remain unvaccinated by choice and a number of others have been exempted from the vaccine due to medical or religious reasons.

Additionally, I teach in a district that has not only threatened to fire more than 30 teachers for not receiving their vaccine booster shots but also has already terminated three teachers in October whose claims for a religious exemption were denied.

These non-boosted teachers are required to wear masks in school as well as undergo twice-weekly testing in addition to a raft of other precautionary measures, according to a recent memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the school committee and the union.

“The MOA outlining criteria for those who have not received the booster and who are eligible that was signed with the NEAB goes into effect tomorrow,” wrote Superintendent Michael B. Messore, III, in an email to district teachers and staff on a recent Sunday morning. “The MOA requires twice-weekly testing, the use of an N95 mask, and daily attestation for those not boosted.”

Unfortunately, the same is not the case for unvaccinated students. Masks are optional.

And, of course, the point in wearing a mask is to protect the health of those around you. 

“It’s important to remember that you may be asymptomatic and not know you are infected but still able to spread COVID-19,” said University of California-Davis infectious disease specialist Natascha Tuznik. “Masking up in these situations helps to protect vulnerable people you could unknowingly infect.”

In other words: it’s not about luck. It’s about purposeful and prudent public health policy.

I have read some of the urgent and passionate emails sent by parents and community members to our district’s Re-Entry Committee charged with developing the Barrington Public Schools’ masking policy going forward after March 4. 

Most of the writers asked the committee to end the mask mandate and make mask-wearing optional, citing the detrimental physical, social-emotional and mental health effects masking and distance learning have had on students over the last two years. 

I agree with them. 

But please continue to protect us from those individuals who have elected not to be vaccinated or who are not fully vaccinated—i.e., our unvaccinated students.

And, lacking that, may The Force be with us all.

Dr. Kevin M. Blanchard, Ed.D., NBCT, lives in Barrington and has been teaching English at Barrington High School since 1993. He is currently department chair.