Old Trail School (age 2-Grade 8), which had mandated the indoor wearing of masks for all students, faculty and staff since returning to campus in fall of 2020, shifted to a mask-optional policy on Monday, February 28. To help younger students better understand and respect the decision of some classmates to continue wearing masks, our Primary School faculty wrote and illustrated a short story called “Otis and Ira: Friends at School”. Otis the Buffalo and Ira the Blue Heron are well-known characters at Old Trail, particularly with our younger students who often sketch representations of the pair as part of the early childhood curriculum. In the story, Otis and Ira are best friends, despite each family’s different choices including transportation, lunch choices and masking. The video was emailed to families before the mask policy was changed and presented to children in the classrooms. Parents were encouraged to have conversations at home with their children that mirrored discussions led by teachers at school about respecting the choices families make in the OTS community.