Robbie Neissen, 11, is a fifth-grader at Clifton School #13 in Clifton, NJ. Because of the COVID-19 lockdown, he’s missing a trip to Washington, DC, with safety-patrol kids from all over the country.

As a safety-patroller, I helped a kindergarten class every day. I would take the boys to the bathroom at ­recess. I’d take them to the nurse, help them clean up at lunch. One of the hardest things about not going to school is not being able to see their faces every day.

I got chosen by my teachers to be a patrol because I showed responsibility, I helped the teachers out, and I had good grades. The trip to DC was a reward for the patrollers’ work. For example, I couldn’t play with my friends at recess because I was busy helping the younger kids.

This was also going to be my first trip without either of my parents, and I was really looking forward to it. Me and my friends had already decided that we were going to bunk together. Now that we’re not going, I’m hoping I can donate the money I raised for the trip to local hospitals, a charity called Love of Grub and a wolf ­preserve that takes care of stranded wolves that were owned by people.

— As told to Suzy Weiss

Read more stories about how kids are being affected by the coronavirus pandemic.