One year ago the state began shutting down because of COVID-19. Professional sports stopped. Schools closed and virtual learning became a way of life. Businesses termed nonessential closed. Despite it all, we lost family and friends.

But we grew in many ways. Community leaders shared what they learned from this past year:

Nicole Beckett, Lehighton borough manager:

“Professionally, I have learned how important it is to be adaptable during times of crisis,” Beckett said. “We have been faced with so many challenges in local government and it has been extremely important to follow the science, utilize our resources and educate our community.

“As a local government official, there is a responsibility to provide the continuity of government services. We are responsible for public safety and essential services and must continue on whether there is a pandemic or not.

“As an employer, it was crucial to plan, keep our staff safe and assure we could continue operations. I have learned the importance of not reacting in the moment. It is important to pause, plan, think ahead and rely on our resources.

“Networking with Carbon County officials and the surrounding communities has been very beneficial.

“Personally, I have noticed the importance of slowing down. All too often we would wish we had more time to accomplish tasks, spend time with our family and make time for ourselves. In the last year, we’ve had no choice but to slow down and realize what is important in our world.”

Jennifer Wentz, Walnutport borough councilwoman:

“One year after the pandemic we have learned a lot,” Wentz said.

“I think the biggest is that when faced with something of this magnitude, we can overcome and do not have to let it keep us from moving forward.

“We may have never imagined our lives the way they are currently, we have had to learn to do things differently, from hugging our loved ones to greeting someone with a handshake.

At the same time, I think we have also rediscovered our connections to each other, also learning how to communicate more effectively, and sometimes that it’s all right to just breathe.”

Randy Smith, Palmerton police chief

“We are basically doing like everybody else, trying to stay social distanced, wearing masks, washing hands; we have all kinds of sanitizing.

“We answer as many calls as we can by telephone; we only have people in here that are necessary. Hopefully as it gets warmer, we’ll be able to get outside more.”

Matthew J. Link, Northern Lehigh superintendent:

“The importance of being adaptable and not locking on to only one solution,” Link said. “We are able to customize instruction for the student much more effectively than ever before.

“Of course, we all learned how to better utilize technology. Generally, we have all become better problem solvers.”

John Rushefski, Jim Thorpe School superintendent:

“The pandemic has shown administrators, teachers and even board members the value of meeting together. It was taken for granted.

We see some students that have not been learning as much as they would have if this was a normal school year. We’re trying to provide intervention strategies to help students progress through the 2021 school year and maintain positive standing as a student.

It’s not just something that’s happening in Carbon County, it’s something that’s happening everywhere.

A year ago it was a novel thing to have a board member Skype in. I could see that being a natural thing we’re doing, just an alternative.”

Ray Kinder, Tamaqua Area School District superintendent:

“I think the thing that I have learned most is that people can adapt and change for the good of others. I have been inspired by the sacrifice so many people have shown to support the health and well-being of our younger and older community members.”

Sharon Laverdure, Monroe County commissioners’ chairman:

“I truly always believed in the need to care for others, and I think it reinforced that we must in order to help our neighbors.”

Sue Howland, Lehighton Area High School principal:

“I have learned that resiliency is the ability to learn from our process to become stronger and better as humans. In order to tackle the daily challenges we faced, we must be willing to grow our educators and assess our public school system as we knew it. The past year has taught all of us that we must learn to demonstrate perseverance, commit to reflection and hold a core belief that we can all grow (administrators, teachers, students and parents) as a community. This change will ultimately lend itself to a lifelong learning process, which is our hope and expectation for all students.”

David Albright, Chestnuthill Township manager:

“I learned three things during the pandemic: I learned how to continue operating the township and how to do it safely. I learned we could hold meetings remotely. I learned there was an increase of people making use of the natural areas and parks,” he said.

Joe Schatz, Jim Thorpe Police chief:

“Since the pandemic, the department has made changes to the way we deal with and protect the community as a whole. We have a better understanding of the use of personal protection equipment in law enforcement operations and it has helped us better prepare for the future.”

Lee Lesisko, superintendent, Pleasant Valley School District:

“We have learned that our PV family is resilient and we can adapt, improvise and overcome. Because of COVID, we have changed the way we deliver instruction. Now, we offer a synchronous component – live instruction via technology. The pandemic has made us think outside the box and because of this, we will now offer more instructional learning models for to our students.”

Reporters Terry Ahner, Justin Carlucci, Jarrad Hedes, Amy Leap, Chris Reber and Kristine Porter contributed to this report.