“I would love for there to never be mistakes in student communications, but sometimes it happens,” Tisa Silver Canady, founder and executive director of the Maryland Center for Collegiate Financial Wellness, told 草莓传媒.

Silver Canady said that while distressing, getting a message from a college or university that there’s a problem with tuition or room and board payments “is not something that necessarily means your dream is over,” or that a student will have to go to another school.

“It doesn’t always mean that.”

What it does mean, she said, is that the student and family should contact the financial aid office immediately.

“Critical information is coming from the financial aid office,” Silver Canady said. “The financial aid website 鈥� I know a lot of people are intimidated by it because it’s content heavy 鈥� but if you don’t get into it now and start to develop an understanding and start asking questions about it, then you’ll set yourself up for these sometimes disruptive events like unenrollment.”

Families should make sure they are getting all the emails and communications from the financial aid office and the bursar’s office at their child’s school, she said. That way they can avoid surprises should an updated invoice go to a spam file, for example.

Families should also be prepared to have their financial information easily accessible.

“The number of times that they’re going to need to re-up this process of financial aid is 鈥� at a standard 鈥� going to be twice a year: once per semester and then an additional time if they choose to enroll in special sessions like summer or winter,” Silver Canady said.

Becoming comfortable with understanding how to finance a college education should start in high school, and Silver Canady encouraged families to visit the U.S. Department of Education’s for college.

“One thing that I tell students and families a lot is, there’s a big difference between financial literacy and financial aid literacy,” she said. “And when you are on a campus, that’s when that financial aid literacy has got to start beefing up.”

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Montgomery County鈥檚 Public Safety Training Academy graduated 37 new police officers and sheriff鈥檚 deputies who were sworn in during a ceremony Thursday in Rockville, Maryland.

The new class of law enforcement officers enters policing at a time when competition for new hires is fierce and trust for the profession in some communities is low.

The current climate is one of the reasons newly sworn Montgomery County Police Officer Alfredo Hernandez said he is joining the force.

鈥淭here is not a better time to serve than now,鈥� Hernandez said. 鈥淚 speak Spanish, I speak English, I鈥檓 bilingual, I have years of life experience under my belt, which I feel like will be a great asset to this department.鈥�

He grew up in Rockville, attended Wootton High School, and said his police academy class is a reflection of the community.

鈥淲e are very diverse,鈥� Hernandez said. 鈥淲e have many different officers from many different backgrounds, we speak many different languages and we鈥檙e here to serve the community.鈥�

Members of the 2026 class will join agencies including the Montgomery County Sheriff鈥檚 Office, Gaithersburg City Police, Rockville City Police, Takoma Park Police and the Maryland-National Capital Park Police.

The bulk of the graduating class, 21 officers, will serve in Montgomery County鈥檚 police department.

Police Chief Marc Yamada said recruitment efforts have paid off, and that鈥檚 due in part to the opportunities that the department offers.

He also agreed with Hernandez that gaining and keeping the public’s trust is especially important at this time.

鈥淚t鈥檚 almost talked about every day, either in the academy, on the street or in my office,鈥� Yamada said.

鈥淚f you caught me in my other uniform, I have a pin on my uniform 鈥� one of only a couple that I wear 鈥� that says 鈥榯rust.鈥欌��

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“By 5th grade boys are already starting to show a disinterest,” Virginia Del. Josh Thomas said. “Our boys are 1.5 times more likely to drop out and never complete high school due to lack of interest, which is kind of a new trend that we haven’t seen before.”

Thomas chairs the newly formed Virginia Boys and Men Advisory Commission, which held its first meeting Monday. The data was supplied by the American Institute for Boys and Men in a presentation to the commission July 20.

“I think one of the solutions that we heard about on Monday that has garnered a lot of interest and is certainly of interest to me, is getting more men in the classroom,” Thomas said. “It’s kind of hard to see where you can be in the world if you don’t see yourself there.”

But the solution won’t end with recruitment, Thomas said.

“Our retention is not great either. Even once we get them in the classroom, men are much more likely to leave the classroom in the first four years,” he said.

Thomas said he’s calling for “a permanent shift in how Virginia is going to address staffing and educational posts throughout our public education system.”

One of the bright sides in the effort, Thomas said, is the bipartisan interest in providing better outcomes for Virginia’s boys and men.

“I can pick up the phone and call my colleagues in the Virginia Statehouse and within two minutes they said, ‘We’re in!'” Thomas said.

The next meeting of the commission is slated for Aug. 25. The first report from the body is due in October.

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The three-member Economic Development Committee voted unanimously to suggest the moratorium to the full council.

Later Wednesday, the council’s Planning, Housing and Parks Committee voted to adopt definitions of data centers, specifying that a large data center would be a facility with energy demand of at least 25 megawatts.

The votes come ahead of Tuesday’s meeting of the full 11-member council where both issues will be considered.

The county is currently under a six-month data center moratorium created by an executive order from Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich.

“These are important issues for our county’s future and we need to get the policy right before any permits are finalized. I look forward to seeing progress on this front,” Elrich said.

Earlier this month, the Prince George’s County Council passed a two-year moratorium on hyperscale data center development.

Council member Will Jawando, who had proposed a two-year moratorium on data centers, said he supports the 18-month proposal, and will withdraw his bill calling for the longer pause on the controversial facilities.

Jawando, who sits on the Planning, Housing and Parks Committee, has suggested examining how data centers could be taxed in Montgomery County.

“I was talking with our colleagues in Loudoun County, who just last year got authority to change the property tax rate from the state legislature to charge a 4% tax rate on data centers,” Jawando said.

“Right now, as I’ve mentioned, a data center would pay the same property tax rate as your single-family home, which is not appropriate.”

Council member Evan Glass, who sits on the Economic Development Committee, had previously proposed forming a task force to study the potential impacts of data centers on the county and asked the committee to consider the move as part of its work.

“I know firsthand that all of us have been engaged and have been texted and tweeted and emailed and phone called and Facebooked, but that is not a public conversation,” Glass said.

Council President Natali Fani-Gonz谩lez, who chairs the committee, rejected the proposal.

“When the time is right, there will be a public hearing, there will be work sessions as the process moves forward.”

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Montgomery County police Sgt. Elijah Kinser was joined at a news conference Tuesday by members of Wegayehou’s family.

Her son, Nate Tinbite, described Wegayehou as an avid walker and called her a 鈥渨alking angel.鈥�

鈥淪omeone took the person we love most in this world and drove away as if she were nothing,鈥� Tinbite said, urging anyone with information to come forward. 鈥淲hat feels small and uncertain to you could be the piece that brings us answers.”

Wegayehou was struck at roughly 1 p.m. on June 19 while crossing the intersection of Crestmoor Drive and Colesville Road.

Police said the location is in what they call a 鈥渉igh-injury network鈥� with a number of collisions involving cars, not pedestrians.

鈥淪peed seems to be a pretty big factor in that area,鈥� Kinser said.

And while there are traffic cameras in the area of the crash, Kinzer said they are designed to monitor traffic conditions, not capture crimes.听Neighboring doorbell cameras have not yielded good video either, because the homes are set on hillsides.

However, Kinser said, some of the best footage was captured by a community member. It shows a dark colored SUV that police believe is a 2009-2014 Lexus RX 350.

Kinser said it鈥檚 possible someone has information they may not realize could provide answers to a grieving family.

He also made a direct appeal to the driver.

“If you鈥檙e listening 鈥� you鈥檝e lived with this for a month. But so has Hanna鈥檚 family,鈥� Kinzer said.

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According to , there were 213 traffic fatalities statewide as of July 20. By the same day in 2025, there were 252 deaths.

In the state’s two largest counties, Prince George’s recorded 40 traffic deaths year to date. Montgomery County had 28.

“Prince George’s County typically has more fatalities than Montgomery County does, largely because of the volume of traffic that goes through the population; it’s a little bit bigger of a county, so there’s more exposure,” said Tim Kearns, the director of the Maryland Highway Safety Office at the state Motor Vehicle Administration. “There’s more opportunities for people to be involved in motor vehicle crashes.”

In Prince George’s County, 15 of the 40 traffic fatalities involved impaired drivers.

Officials have noticed “a little bit of reduction” in fatalities around roads with work zones, speed feedback signs and speed cameras, Kearns said.

“Anything that we can do, along with messaging, automated enforcement, and having our law enforcement partners on the street, just so they know we’re out there, and that they can see that speed does kill,” he said.听

State officials are working with law enforcement and local governments to keep the downward trend going.

“To get better messages out there about how everybody needs to not drive impaired and to plan for a safe ride home is obviously one of our key goals,” he said.

Kearns also noted the number of fatalities where seat belts were not worn.

“Typically, failure to wear a seat belt contributes to about half of the fatalities in an occupant vehicle for a motor vehicle crash. It’s one of the main reasons that people are killed when they’re involved in a crash,” Kearns said.

Speed is another common factor that leads to more road deaths.

Maryland recently launched a public service campaign urging drivers to “Slow the Fast Down,” noting that excessive speed contributes to nearly one-third of all deadly crashes statewide.

The provocative language of the campaign has gotten attention, said Kearns.

“We have noticed more feedback on our social media posts, and people have noticed it. So whether they’re in favor of it or whether they think it’s a little bit risky for that kind of message to be out there, it is getting attention, and it is getting attention of the folks who’s the demographic that we’re trying to reach,” he said.

That includes drivers between the ages of 21 and 34 who are, according to the data, involved in more high-speed crashes.

“We really need to make sure that we’re looking out for each other. We’re looking twice for pedestrians. We’re looking twice for motorcyclists. We’re making sure that we’re aware of our surroundings, aware of our speeds, wearing our seat belts,” Kearns said.

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The county is also working with the Maryland State Highway Administration to lower the speed limit on five urban and suburban corridors that are jointly maintained by the county and state, including Montrose Road and Josiah Henson Parkway in North Bethesda and Darnestown Road in Rockville.

A 2021 state law authorized Montgomery County to drop maximum speeds to 20 mph on local roads and to 15 mph in rare instances.

The roads jointly maintained by the county and the state will see speed limits drop to between 25 and 35 mph. Signs alerting drivers to the new speeds will be posted by the end of August, the county said.

In addition, Montgomery County is working with the state to make high-crash corridors “safer by design,” Wade Holland, the county’s Vision Zero coordinator, said.听

“Right now, under construction is New Hampshire Avenue near the Beltway between Montgomery and Prince George’s County, which is one of the high-crash corridors, not only for Montgomery County and Prince George’s County, but the entire state,” he told 草莓传媒.

The state will be working on Montrose Road in North Bethesda, parts of University Boulevard West, Montgomery Village Avenue and stretches of Randolph Road later this year, Holland said.

Holland said efforts to reduce crashes, and especially cut the number of traffic fatalities, also include public education and enforcement campaigns aimed at changing behaviors.

“We still see too many crashes involving people not wearing their seat belts, they’re speeding, they’re driving while distracted, they are impaired by alcohol or drugs,” he said.

The majority of neighborhood speed limit reductions followed resident requests. The speed limits are decided upon after analysis that includes the road’s location and design, Holland said.

The emphasis on speed has to do with survivability in a crash, Holland said.

“When you get to that 35听to 40 mph听speed limit, if you strike a pedestrian or cyclist, that pedestrian or cyclist has a 50/50 chance of surviving,” he said.听“Even a small car can do a lot of damage to people if you’re speeding or reckless.”

A and of all the speed limit changes are on the county’s website.

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At his weekly briefing, County Executive Marc Elrich highlighted the work of the, in which young people in 17 schools across the county help their peers address issues that matter most to them.

“The program operates on the belief that youth-led efforts are uniquely powerful because students are uniquely connected to their peers and understand the contemporary challenges they face,” Elrich said.

Kameron Pondexter, the Theona program administrator, said more than 700 participants have been trained since 2022 in life-saving overdose response techniques. The program’s youth ambassadors have also put in more than 2,000 student service-learning hours on a variety of projects 鈥� such as health and wellness kits and promoting peace in their communities.

“We are proud of the impact our ambassadors have made, and we’re excited to continue growing a generation of young leaders who are creating positive change in their schools and communities,” she said.

Sarah Insa Sadio, a rising senior at Albert Einstein High School, explained that during the COVID-19 pandemic, she and other girls her age found themselves undergoing puberty in isolation. On top of that, social media emphasized idealized looks and lifestyles.

“It ultimately just fed into our insecurities,” she said.

As a BtheOne teen ambassador, Insa Sadio said she’s worked with other teens finding positive spaces that offer a safe, judgment-free zone.

“Mostly, something that we’ve come to appreciate now is how accounts celebrate traits, talents, and health outside of physical appearance, highlighting that your body isn’t doesn’t represent you,” she said.

To promote better mental health, Insa Sadio encourages others to take a tech break whenever possible.

“Try to go outside, have a conversation with a stranger, or maybe go outside, drive around, listen to music. Just limit your screen time and technology, and find other strategies to satisfy yourself and your brain, and to allow your brain to relax,” she said.

Monica Martin, who serves as the chief of behavioral Health and crisis services in the county’s Department of Health and Human Services, said consistently high teen screen use is associated with self-harm and poor cognitive outcomes.

The good news, she said, is parental monitoring can help reduce those risks. So can reinforcement from peers.

“When teens support each other in saying no to screen time and helping each other participate in alternative activities and healthy coping strategies and spread awareness that can save lives,” Martin said.

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They also spoke to 草莓传媒 about the systems that make voting secure in their jurisdictions and in other states.

“First of all, paper ballots can’t be hacked, right?” Maryland elections administrator Jared DeMarinis said. “Like we are a paper ballot state; everyone votes on a paper ballot.”

On the machines that tabulate the results, “We do logic and accuracy testing prior to each election, which is for public observation,” DeMarinis said.

And after each election, the Maryland State Board of Elections runs audits to verify the accuracy of the count.

In Virginia, which is holding its primary election on Aug. 4, Samantha Alfaro, the communications manager for Loudoun County’s Office of Elections, said the decentralized nature of the nation’s election system is “a feature of our democracy.”

“I would say the fact that states, localities, cities all have different voting equipment makes elections secure,” Alfaro said.

Votes are recorded and counted on different equipment in states, cities and counties.

“I would say that voters in Loudoun County and Virginia and this country as well can depend on the election process,” she said.听

Alfaro also stressed that counting machines are not connected into the internet.

“All they do is count your ballot,” she said.听

Even so, there are continual checks to make sure election data is secured.

“We take cybersecurity very seriously, DeMarinis said. “It’s a top priority of my administration at the Board of Elections. Here, we are constantly monitoring our sites and systems for any bad actors.”

Public participation beyond the ballot box

Serving as an election officer is one way to learn more about the process firsthand.

DeMarinis said it takes what he called an “army” of citizens to help run elections, noting that the state hires roughly 26,000 election judges when voters head to the polls.

Similarly, in Virginia, “our elections are run by your friends and neighbors, so the person who’s checking you in at your precinct might be your neighbor or your kid’s teacher or the person who works at Trader Joe’s and is bagging your groceries,” Alfaro said.

Maryland and Virginia elections also provide for observers. The canvassing process, where the votes are processed and tabulated, is open to the public.

“That’s why we publicize when they are going to occur,” said DeMarinis.

The question of Maryland’s voter rolls

Earlier in July, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division threatened DeMarinis and elections officials in other states with criminal charges.

DeMarinis’ letter arrived after the agency lost a bid to force Maryland to turn over its voter records.

“There’s a lot of talk about, I guess, the SAVE Act and noncitizens on our rolls, and again, it’s just not true,” he said.听

“When they talk about wanting all these lists, it’s nothing more than a fishing expedition for mythical systematic evildoers that just again, don’t exist,” he said. “It’s more like the ‘Odyssey’ than reality.”

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Zafar Zafari, an associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and an investigator with the University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing, explained that the research identified six “hot spot days” in Maryland tied to the smoke from the Canadian wildfires in 2023.

The data focused on the level of particulates in Maryland’s air as a result of the wildfires, and Zafari said when it came to the impact on patients and the university’s healthcare system, “We noticed 18 to 20% more visits during those hot spot days.”

Along with the increase in medical visits, Zafari said the cost to the hospital system totaled $2.4 million.

He added that the research could help health officials identify those who might be most affected by smoke from wildfires and help them take proactive steps to minimize the negative impacts of exposure in the future.

The need to consider the impact of wildfires, is clear, said Zafari. “If you look at the historical data, every decade, every 10 years, we have some levels of increase in both the intensity as well as the frequency of these wildfires.”

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As of July 13, 1,645 cases have been confirmed by the CDC, with another 5,100 reported cases requiring further investigation.

“It’s really important we understand right now, is this one outbreak? Is it multiple outbreaks? How did these outbreaks happen? Because that’s the only way we’re going to prevent them going forward,” said Barbara Kowalcyk, director of the Institute of Food Safety and Nutrition Security at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health.

But Kowalcyk said there are a host of issues challenging the ability of the nation’s food safety system to pin down the source of the current outbreak.

“This outbreak is also a symptom of potential system vulnerabilities,” she said. ”We know that foodborne disease is a serious public health issue. We have 48 million Americans sickened each year, resulting in 128,000 hospitalizations and about 3,000 deaths.”

The CDC’s food safety budget is about $74 million a year, with half going to states, according to Kowalcyk.

Citing the difficulty of pinning down the source of the current outbreak that the CDC says has spread across 34 states, Craig Hedberg, professor of the Division of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Minnesota said, “We may well have multiple different things going on simultaneously, and that complicates our search for a common source as well.”

“If the cases in Ohio and Michigan are different from the source of the cases in Texas, then trying to find a common source between the two is not going to lead to anything productive at all,” Hedberg said.

Washing produce not ‘terribly effective’

During the virtual conference call, Donald Schaffner, professor of food science at Rutgers University, said the reports that recommended washing produce before eating it caused him to roll his eyes. Referring to the parasite, cyclospora, Schaffner said, “Washing is not a terribly effective intervention for any pathogens that are associated with fresh produce. So telling people to wash their produce may be feel-good, but it’s not really doing anything to really manage risk for people.”

The lag between the reporting of confirmed cases at the CDC compared to the reported cases at the state level has added to some confusion on the part of the public, according to Sarah Sorscher with the Center for Science in the Public Interest. That lag coupled with the fact that the exact food or water source of the current outbreaks are unconfirmed leave consumers with “no way to eliminate that pathogen on the fresh produce that they have other than by cooking it.”

But referring to CDC personnel, Sorscher added, “You would actually be hard pressed to identify a team of people who is smarter, who is more skilled and experienced, and more committed to their work than the men and women who are working right now on solving this outbreak.”

Asked why it appears the number of confirmed cases seems to have been on a steady upward trajectory over the past 10 years, Hedberg said there are “culture-independent diagnostic testing” methods using panels that can screen for nearly 20 different pathogens at the same time.

“These panels are much more widely used today than they were say, 10 years ago, so we have much better ability to pick up these infections at the clinical level than we used to have,” Hedberg said.

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“This is a picture of my son Brett,” she said, explaining he was killed six years ago trying to cross a street in Montgomery County, Maryland.

“I know the pain of losing someone suddenly and violently on our roadways.” Badin said.

That’s one of the reasons Badin said she supports council legislation that would in Montgomery County.

“We’ve all seen on the news the doughnuts, the burnouts, the people hanging on to the outsides of vehicles,” she said.

The bill would expand the civil enforcement authority police have in trying to prevent and disband meetups that ended in one case with a damaged police cruiser in Chevy Chase.

Badin had a suggestion for lawmakers.

“I’d like to see the bill modified to include parking lots, parking structures, private property, where much of this unlawful racing and exhibition driving currently takes place,” she said

John Seng, who founded the Maryland Coalition for Roadway Safety, also referred to as Safe RoadsMD, told council members he also supports the bill.

“It will accomplish very little unless it’s enforced,” Seng said. “Effective enforcement requires a stronger, larger and better-equipped Montgomery County Police Department.”

Another bill supporter, Montgomery County resident Meredith McCain, said she lost a child in a car crash involving a negligent driver this year.

There seems to be little regard by many drivers for road safety, she said.

“I have people actually bypassing me on my very narrow little residential street, gunning their motors. I see motorcycles zooming by me,” McCain said.

She urged lawmakers to escalate the law enforcement and consequences of “disregarding normal driving rules and public safety.”

The bill, sponsored by council member Andrew Friedson, would bar racing, speed contests, exhibition, stunt driving and street takeovers on public roadways. It would also allow for the seizure of vehicles involved in the takeovers.

A council committee work session on the bill is scheduled for Oct. 5.

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The would apply to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection officers or government contractors employed since Oct. 1, 2025 “to support, direct, administer, aid, or otherwise participate in the enforcement of federal immigration laws.”

The bill would prohibit several county agencies from hiring these individuals for “sensitive” positions, defined in part by “regular interaction with the public and decision-making authority over access to or distribution of public resources.”

The council heard from two witnesses 鈥� one for the legislation, one opposed 鈥� during a hearing Tuesday.

Gabriela Rivera of the Montgomery County Immigrant Rights Collective urged the council to pass the bill.

“As council members, it is your job to make the community feel safe and protected. The way the world is right now, nobody feels safe,” she said.

Referencing Monday’s shooting death of a 26-year-old man by immigration enforcement officers in Biddeford, Maine, Rivera said, “Our current administration has been continuing to let down our people, and I know you have seen it. I know you have seen the vicious kidnappings. I know you have seen the straight-up murders.”

“The community deserves to have at least the county government on our side,” Rivera continued. “So please don’t water it down, don’t ignore it, and don’t go against it.”

Speaking against the bill, Esther Wells, the Republican candidate for Montgomery County executive, told the council that, as an immigrant, she understands “true community trust comes from safe neighborhoods and fully staffed public safety departments.”

Wells noted that Council President Natalie Fani-Gonzalez, also an immigrant, was not a sponsor of the bill.

“That should tell us that the debate is not about being pro-immigrant or anti-immigrant. It is about whether this legislation is good policy for Montgomery County,” she said.

Wells also said some information was missing from the legislative packet before the council.

“I urge you to release the missing impact statements, hold all stakeholder discussions in public view, protect our merit-based civil service system, stop playing politics with public safety, and vote no on Bill 29-26,” she said.

The “Community Trust in County Employees Act,” sponsored by Council member Kristin Mink, is one of several bills filed in response to immigration enforcement under the Trump Administration.

The council’s Public Safety and Government Operations and Fiscal Policy committees, are scheduled to hold a joint work session on the bill Oct. 1.

Since it’s an expedited bill, the legislation would take effect immediately once passed.

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As cases of the parasite that can cause watery, explosive diarrhea continue to rise, health officials say you shouldn’t avoid fresh fruits and veggies where the parasite can be found, but you should take precautions.

More than 30 states have reported cyclospora infections this year, and current data from them show the number of infections surpassing the record U.S. mark of about 4,700 set in 2019.

No deaths resulting from cyclosporiasis have been reported.

There is still no clear source of the cyclospora parasite, but Montgomery County Health Officer Kisha Davis said it can be found in cilantro, leafy greens, blackberries and raspberries.

“The type of foods that we typically eat in the summer, and it likes to hide in those nooks and crannies,” Davis said.

In an attempt to avoid symptoms of the illness 鈥� watery diarrhea, cramping and nausea 鈥� some consumers may try to cut fresh fruits and vegetables from their diet, which Davis said isn’t a good idea.

“It’s still important to eat those fruits and vegetables. Don’t stop doing it. We want people to stay healthy, and one of the best ways to do that is eating your fresh fruits and vegetables.”

Instead of cutting those fresh foods altogether, Davis suggested an extra wash of produce.

However, according to the CDC’s website, “Routine chemical disinfection or sanitization of food or water is unlikely to kill Cyclospora.”

Cooking can kill the parasite, and incorporating more cooked fruits and vegetables (think spinach or kale) can reduce your risk. Cooking fruits or veggies to a temperature at or above 158 degrees is recommended.

When the illness does strike, it can be difficult to determine its source, since symptoms may not show up until one to two weeks after consuming contaminated food.

“It can be important to just try and be mindful, pay attention. If you’re having, if you’re eating out, eating a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, to try and think about where they came from,” Davis said.

Outbreak data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are significantly lagging state reported totals. On the CDC’s , the agency said it is “aware that states are likely to report higher case counts of cyclosporiasis than reflected in CDC data and is working closely with states to update numbers as additional cases are confirmed.”

The CDC made its Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) reporting on all pathogens except Salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) optional as of July 1, 2025.

“FoodNet’s active surveillance activities were not designed to detect outbreaks of foodborne illness,” the .

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Torrence said it seemed that every aisle had a kiosk with items parents and teachers usually stock up on 鈥� just later in the summer season.

“Don’t tell me that summer’s over. We’re not in back-to-school mindset right now,” Torrence told 草莓传媒.

That inspired him to get out his phone, record a song and under the title “Teachers When July Hits.”

In his song, Torrence lists off items packed into bright displays: the bookbags on a discount, notebooks in every color, along with pencils, pens and crayons. He also croons about the way teachers feel when they see that so soon after school let out.

 

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“Back to school after the Fourth of July seems cruel,” the song goes.

At the end of the brief song, he looks straight into the camera and says, “Please, let me, let me chill. Just for a little bit longer.”

“A lot of teachers chimed in right away,” Torrence said. “They feel triggered when they walk into the stores and it always hits towards the beginning of July that stuff starts to come, and yeah, it seemed to resonate with other people than just myself.”

It’s not just teachers who shudder at the sight of those early school supplies displays.

“I am hearing from parents, “he said. “They feel like they still want to plan some day trips and go find a beach day somewhere and all that,” but instead he said they feel they just have a long to-do list ahead of the back-to-school rush.

Torrence teaches in the Evergreen School District in Ohio and said during the summers, he gathers ideas for songs that he’ll work into his lessons in the fall. It’s exciting to plan for the year ahead, he said, and as a 17-year teacher, he still relishes planning his lessons and getting to know his new students.

But he said during the summer it’s also important for him to make sure that, “I’m present here with my family, and then when August hits, then I am ready and I’m in go mode.”

So in reaction to all the hype about back-to-school bargains, Torrence sings, “I’m going to close my eyes, and pretend like I still got time.”

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