Ellee, Caroline, and Shannon With Lottie

Shannon Blackburn is the Principal of Ashland Elementary School.

Shannon: “It’s the last day of school for the year. While this day comes every year, this last day has a bigger significance. As the Principal of Ashland Elementary, having to navigate the unknowns of COVID-19 has shown me the resilience of students, families, teachers, and the community. But for me, it isn’t the pandemic that makes this day significant; it is because it is my last, last day of school in FCPS. I am leaving my absolute favorite job in the world with the best students and families! Saying goodbye through Zoom or between car windows while wearing masks is not ideal, but it’s how I got to say goodbye to each one of the Ashland Eagles who fill my heart with pure joy! Seeing their smiling faces, sharing tears of joy and hearing their laughs permanently etched memories I will savor for years to come. To say I will miss Ashland is an understatement.

Thank you, Ashland families, students, teachers, and community, for supporting me, trusting me, investing in my vision and permitting me the grand opportunity to SOAR alongside each and every one of you as we reach for our dreams!

#TeamAshland #WeAreAshland”

Lexington in the Time of COVID-19 is an artwork about people practicing social distancing at a time of a deadly virus. And also offering kindness.

Kurt Gohde and Kremena Todorova capture photographs at the periphery of American culture, where drag queens, discarded couches, and abandoned motel signs exist.