On Monday, March 22nd, the school board will meet to discuss reopening MSAD-61 for full time, in-person learning starting the week of April 5th. Superintendent Smith will propose opening schools for four days a week, keeping Friday remote, until after April break, when the schools would transition to five days of in person learning. With all students in the school, the social distancing minimum in classrooms would change to three feet, except for breakfast and lunch times, where the minimum will remain six feet.
If you’d like to watch the school board meeting, here is the Zoom link, starting at 6pm: https://networkmaine.zoom.us/j/81325965670?pwd=S0NndFd0WDBCU01hQ0dDVGphNitIUT09#success Meeting ID: 813 2596 5670 Passcode: 005223 -Kristen & Abigail At the beginning of the second semester, The Laker Letter checked-in with students to see how they were doing and how they felt about going to school during a pandemic. We realized that not all students are facing the same changes depending on their grade level and if they participate in after school activities, so we tried to make questions tailored to those unique experiences. We asked their homebase teachers to ask them a few questions, and here are their responses:
All the students were asked the following questions: How do you feel going to school in a pandemic? Academics, social, and extracurricular-wise? Overall, most students feel that the hybrid format has its benefits and disadvantages, like being able to have extra time to complete assignments on remote days and having varied sleep schedules because of it. One thing most students miss are the extracurriculars, whether it be sports, clubs, or other activities, since they help establish a student’s social life. For those who are able to participate in sports and after school activities, it is difficult to keep their masks on for such a long period of time and to get transportation to and from practices since there are no late buses this year. Even in the classroom and at lunchtime, students are finding it difficult to maintain their social life and interact with other students since they are always socially distanced and many have friends in the opposite cohort, so they don’t see each other. Despite these mixed feelings, students have been adjusting well, and as one student said, “[that] it's starting to feel like the new normal.” What do you think have been some of the challenges going to school in a hybrid format and what practices, if any, do you think should continue to be implemented? When asked what has been most difficult about going to school during a pandemic, many students agreed that the Friday schedule made doing work more difficult since it was so spread out during the day. Another drawback was that students have to take attendance for themselves on remote days, which many forget to do. On remote days, students don’t have the option to receive one-on-one help from their teachers, making learning complex topics more difficult than they already are. The 4x4 scheduling plan has allowed students the opportunity to finish full-year classes in one semester, but it has been a huge disadvantage for AP students who take the AP exams in May. Although most of the disadvantages students reported were about difficulties learning from home, many students believe that the mask breaks are “pointless” and that the desk shields are “too big” and they don’t carry them around. Despite those challenges, some students agreed that there should be capacity limits for the bathrooms. --------- Freshmen: Considering your unique experiences this year, what was one experience that you are thankful for that you weren’t expecting? Most of the freshmen were grateful that they were able to come into school, since they were afraid that they wouldn't do any work if school was completely online. Other students reported that they were thankful for the opportunity to play sports, even though practices and games were much different than in the past. Finally, one thing that the students were thankful for was being in a smaller cohort so that they could establish closer friendships with other students. Luckily for the Class of 2024, they still have three more years of high school left, so hopefully they will be able to enjoy a “normal” high school experience in the coming years! Sophomores: Besides doing hybrid learning, what has been the biggest difference between this year and your freshman year? Since the Class of 2023’s freshman year was shortened by the pandemic, they have experienced many changes in school structure. The students who responded noted that one big difference between this year and last is the amount of stairs they have to take to get to and from classes, since some of the stairwells are one-way. Perhaps more importantly, the students reported that they feel it is harder to keep their grades up since they have to “teach [themselves] more” because of hybrid learning. Another difficulty in learning that they mentioned was how much work they do on their laptops instead of hands-on activities, like science labs or poster projects. In terms of changes in their social lives, the sophomores shared that they missed going to school dances, like Homecoming and Winter Carnival. The sophomore class has had to adapt to many changes in the last two years, from adjusting to high school, to fully remote learning, and this year’s hybrid model, but those experiences have only made them more resilient in the face of change. Who knows what they will have to adjust to next year? Just leave it to the Class of 2023 to be quick to adapt! Juniors: How has the pandemic altered your expectations for your junior year going forward? Many students were sad that there probably will not be a Winter Carnival this year, after Homecoming was adapted to a hybrid format this fall. One major component that the Juniors are missing out on is the opportunity to have a social life, whether it be through sports, arts, or other extracurricular activities. A popular school-wide activity that has been a tradition is the viewing of the dance showcase, which the Dance Academy and Dance Showcase classes perform every semester. Other students shared that they were upset that there were limited performing arts opportunities and how the football season was disappointing. One thing all the students agreed on was that they were “disappointed about the fact that they will probably not have a prom.” In many high school movies, prom is depicted as one of the best nights of a high schooler’s life, so the prospect of not having it is surely disappointing. Hopefully, though, it will be safer next year so that the Class of 2022 can have their senior prom! Seniors: How has the pandemic influenced your post-secondary plans, if at all? How has the pandemic influenced your senior year experience? The pandemic has had a huge impact on the Class of 2021, and how their senior year is currently playing out. It has made pre-college decisions and planning very difficult, as, for the most part, colleges don’t currently offer in-person tours. The pandemic also made it difficult to be recruited for sports, and it cut time to shadow for certain job fields that are required to be considered for programs pertaining in said field. When it comes to the senior year experience as a whole, the general consensus from the Seniors is that the pandemic had a seriously negative effect on it. Due to the pandemic, a lot of different school events, sports, and extracurricular activities have been cancelled, or are likely to be cancelled in the future. It has also caused many students to become less motivated overall, since students are only in the building two days a week. Some seniors have flat out said that the effects of the pandemic have ruined their year; that there have been no positive outcomes, and that this year is bad. Despite all of the reported negative feelings about how the pandemic has influenced the Class of 2021, one thing is undeniable: from this shared experience, they are all closer than ever (but still socially distanced!). ------ Despite all the changes and hardships that high schoolers have had to face and overcome in the past year, these experiences have made them all more adaptable. From changing one’ expectations about what high school is “supposed to be like,” to adjusting to online classes, the past year has been full of once in a lifetime experiences. Still, there are only three months of the school year left, so there is still time for things to go back to “normal.” In fact, the school board has been talking about allowing all students back into schools in April, so we'll just have to wait and see how that will work out. And of course, whatever happens, we’ll be here to report on it! -Abigail & Kristen |
Social
|