________________________________________________________________________
Going Back Is Not For Me
By Brianna Tran
It has been a year since students have walked the hallways—a year spent away from sport events, school dances, friends, and the classroom learning environment. The Coronavirus has taken many things away from us and changed the way we function, school being one of them. Since being online, we’ve faced many difficulties, ranging from tech problems to the difficulties of learning in a home environment. Now with the opportunity to go back in person, many students are excited to get back to their usual school environment. However, is now really the best time to go back? For me, I think it would be better to not go back, but I understand why students would want to go back.
There are many reasons for going back to school. Many miss the lively school hallways and classroom learning with teachers and peers. Some simply cannot adapt to learning in the current home environments or have technology issues. Junior Jailyn Alston pointed out what is probably the biggest problem: “Online learning provides more distractions and makes it harder to ask questions.” At home, there are many distractions for both teachers and students. Teachers have little kids to deal with and students have siblings and parents. It’s hard to focus on a math quiz when you have loud background noise around you at all times.
Additionally, students feel uncomfortable about using their mics or participating in class, and honestly, even teachers can feel it too, as HHS Leadership teacher Mrs. Kortan mentioned, “Student’s don’t know their classmates, and don’t feel comfortable enough to participate in discussions or ask questions in an online setting.” Even in person, new kids have difficulty adjusting to meeting new people and participating; however, as the year goes on, it gets better. But online, students never have a chance to meet face to face or have side conversations at lunch to get to know each other better. Both teachers and students feel distanced from each other, and going back in person can fix this.
Despite this, perhaps now is not the best time to go back to school. At the moment, we must weigh the pros and cons together to figure out the best solution. Government teacher Mr. Wilkinson explains how now is perhaps not the right time to go back: “It’s in the middle of the flu and cold system, which can increase the risk of infection.” There are also too many moving pieces: “What lines are drawn when there is an exposure. Will we lose education days to these changes?” Many students are concerned about infection and an outbreak.
There is no perfect time to go back. Online school has its advantages and disadvantages, but so does the hybrid model. There will be an adjustment period for both teachers and students in the hybrid model, but I believe it may be worth it as long as everyone follows the safety guidelines. A big focus of the HHS hybrid system is the fact that students and teachers can choose whether to remain virtual or go back. In times like this, every individual is different, so giving faculty and students the option allows everyone to better cater to their own needs. As Mrs. Kortan states, “If you are comfortable to go back, you should,” and I fully agree.
As a senior, there are many things I miss about going back to school, like seeing my friends in the hallway, attending classes, going to graduation and prom, or even the little things like the senior picture or “senior ditch day”. But I, personally, do not feel comfortable going back. It is a risk for my family and myself, and I do better online than in person. However, I can also see how this can be the exact opposite for others. With the current state of the world, there is no “right” time to go back. I believe the best thing to do is to factor student and teacher opinions into developing an in-person model that will be best in order to ensure a school environment while preventing the spread of the virus.
________________________________________________________________________
Student Choice Is Key
By Dylan Murphy
Towards the end of February, Herndon High began its first steps of transitioning to a hybrid-style structure, where some teachers and students made their triumphant return to the school building after months of working from home. As was the case in September when everyone was stuck with virtual learning, this is a transitional phase, that will require some optimistic adaptation and a major commitment to preserving a strong educational environment. It’s sensible that the choice to return or not should be better left up to the individual, since everyone, both teachers and students, have had different experiences and have their own special conditions that they have to abide by. Heading back to school this month, as long as it’s done with respect to the safety precautions, will ideally be the necessary first steps to a return to the proper school experience.
Mrs. Cupolo with her Freshmen class on their first day of in-person High School
Between teachers and students, opinions on whether now is really the right time to start heading back into the building have greatly varied. For some, the advantages of in-person learning have been dearly missed, and any opportunity to regain some sense of normality is worth taking. But for others, now isn’t quite the opportune moment to rush into things.
In the past few months, more and more information regarding how online learning affects students and teachers has been gathered. On the students’ end, many have experienced a drop in grades due to more difficulty concentrating and finding the motivation to get work done. “When you’re online, you have so many distractions around you. Like for my own example, it’s a lot harder to ask questions, because you’re not in your normal setting,” said Junior Jailyn Alston. In addition, when presented with the comfort of home, it’s easy to get distracted. In favor of returning to school in March, Junior Mark Ellison argued that “There’s way less distractions. When you’re at school, you have to focus more. You have nothing else to do when you’re in that environment, versus being at home, where you could be doing probably hundreds of other things that you want to do.”
In virtual school, there’s an uncomfortable barrier between students and teachers, that’s felt on both sides of the screen. “I wish I could see what my students are doing,” said ESOL teacher Mrs. Law. Students too, are aware of the disconnection between students and teachers, exemplified in the frequent lack of participation and communication. “Teachers are more likely to help students in-person rather than not in-person, because they can actually see what the students are doing,” explained Junior Stephen DeBenedittis.
The chief concern for most students, teachers, and parents is whether a better learning environment is worth risking being exposed to the virus.
Mrs. Hans in her new English classroom
“I’m all in favor of bringing people back, as long as it’s following the safety measures that are put in place,” said Leadership teacher Mrs. Kortan. The safety precautions are set to be relatively strict for the first couple months, necessarily so, to ensure a reduction in the risk of exposure. “I think as long as we come back in waves, and we all stay six feet apart, and wear masks, then we should all be fine,” said Junior Brandon Piszker.
But for some students, there’s never going to be an ideal time window to restart the process. “All the concerns we have now, we’re gonna have nine months from now. I don’t think any of it is going to change.” Ellison pointed out.
There does seem to be a consensus, however, across the two sides of the argument, which is that the choice to return to school or not is better left up to the individual. “I would hate for people to be put in a position they don’t want to be put in, students or teachers,” said Kortan.
In addition to education, virtual learning has also dramatically altered the social landscape that is typically seen as an essential quality of the high school experience. “You’re by yourself most of the time, so you don’t have as much help with school work, or like just, connections with people. Meeting new people is kind of difficult,” said Alston. Social interactivity, even more so for younger kids at developmental ages, is integral to forming positive attitudes and emotional and mental support.
Over the course of the first semester, students’ opinions on whether to return to school or not have undergone a notable shift. “At the beginning of school, so many people were so invigorated in favor of coming back. And I think that number has really dwindled down as it’s become more of a reality,” Kortan confirmed. It’s true, that the amount of students pushing for in-person learning has decreased, mostly due to how comfortable they’ve gradually become with the current system.
“I think that this past year caught all of the administrators off guard, and they were scrambling to come up with a plan, and it took them long. I think we had a little bit of an over-exaggeration, because we didn’t really know what was going on in the beginning, so they took the most cautious step and closed everything down, trying to figure out what’s going on. I think they probably could’ve done it in a more organized and quicker way. I feel like they could be more productive, the head people who are making decisions for us,” said Ellison.
Another lingering question is what school will look like next year. It’s probably still too early to tell, though most school community members seem to be optimistic that the situation will improve. “I think next year it will get to the point where masks are more of an option, so if you feel more comfortable with one on then you can. Because by that point vaccines should be out to the public, to everybody, not just the first priority people,” Ellison said. Ideally, throughout spring and summer, the COVID-19 vaccine will be more accessible to more people, and would thereby enable a safer guarantee for in-person learning. “I’m hopeful that as the vaccine becomes available to those who want it, that the option would be out there to safely return in larger numbers come fall,” Kortan said. The more widely distributed the vaccine becomes, the more potential there is for a larger physical return.
For teachers, resuming the former status quo of teaching in a classroom is preferable, but obviously not at the expense of health and safety. Teachers this year have already had to accommodate themselves to adapt to a new virtual environment, and another transition is underway for the next couple weeks. “It’s been a challenge. No one has ever been through this before, so we’re kind of all learning as we go,” said Law.
The 2020-2021 school year is around halfway over now, and already it’s proved to be something of a unique experience. Mrs. Kortan provided some resonating optimism, after a year of tremendous uncertainty, structural upheaval, and resounding resilience of school spirit. “I’m just really proud overall of how our staff has handled it. You know, we had staff meetings when schools first closed last spring, where the questions were just about using technology and stuff. And it was very indicative that people just weren’t comfortable with it. And now, I feel like we’re so far beyond that, and we’ve really adapted and are doing really amazing things.”
As much as the advantages of virtual school are alluring, I often still find myself missing the easy availability of interpersonal communication and the general social connectivity that made school a more enjoyable experience overall. Virtual learning has transformed school into a predominantly independent experience, resulting in the inevitable negative side effects of idleness, wasted time and lack of motivation. Getting to see your friends and being able to talk to teachers and ask for help is a fundamentally beneficial aspect of the school experience, and particularly for younger kids, it’s significant for emotional, mental, and developmental growth. The key to making the transition back to school successful is to go about it with caution, to adhere to the safety guidelines and make an effort to reduce the potential to spread the virus. And at the bottom line, the choice to go back should be on a totally individual level; forcing people to go back who don’t want to go back helps absolutely no one. The best option right now is to be aware of your own situation and make a decision that best suits yourself; for some that may be returning and for others that may be going back. What the universal goal of either side should be, and mine also, is to balance individual choice and emphasize the learning models that best combat the spread of COVID-19. Herndon has proven itself stubbornly strong already through this school year, and undoubtedly, staff and students will have themselves well-prepared for what lies ahead.