Some students unsatisfied with in-person schooling

Some students say they missed in-person schooling and the advantages it had over online schooling, but since coming back to school on Sept. 28, a number of these students now want to return to online only.

Students say they missed hands on learning, seeing friends on a daily basis, and getting into a daily routine, but returning to in-person school has made it apparent to some students that the demands of social distancing make many of these things difficult if not impossible.

For example, even though school is back in person, there is very little hands-on learning, but rather staying on the computer and working online, which has disappointed senior Tyler Cropper.

“Hands on learning and the ability to ask questions in person is what I miss,” he said in a Sept. 21 interview.

But now, after returning to school, his viewpoints have changed a bit.

“It is like we are doing online schooling but in the classroom with no hands on activity and sitting silently for an hour and a half,” Cropper said. “Assignments that are taking me 20 minutes to complete are supposed to take up the whole period of class and it just isn’t the same as school.”

Another example of what students say they miss is the ability to be social with friends during the school day. Having to wear a mask and be six feet away from everybody limits the chance to be social.

Junior Trentan Vernon was not too pleased after his first day back on Sep. 28.

“I missed the social aspect of going to school, where I could talk to my friends,” Vernon said. “Now that I came back, I realized that there is no real social interaction at school since we all are separated from one another.”

Some students, such as senior Violeta Beltran, chose to stay 100% virtual instead of doing a hybrid school schedule.

“I just do not see a real point in going back to school two days a week, especially when we will just be doing the online schooling in the classroom,” Beltran said. “We can’t really socialize with the people we want, there is no real benefit to going, and it really could just end up being a danger to the health of the students and the teachers.”

Some students are still happy to be back, even with the masks, social distancing, and having the students split on days coming to school and going online.

Senior Owen Strunk, a member of the choir, said that choir can get difficult because of the split in students as well as the mask getting in the way, however, he’s just happy that he is able to get back into choir class.

“The masks can make taking breaths difficult, but personally I am happy to be able to go to school and sing,” Strunk said.

The Boone County Board of Education initially voted to bring more students into the buildings starting Oct. 29. Any student who chose in-person instruction would have been able to come to school every weekday except Wednesday, but those plans are on hold due to rising coronavirus case counts in Boone County.

The superintendent said that district officials will continue to monitor the county coronavirus positivity rate and make changes to the instructional model if needed.

In the meantime, students such as Strunk will continue to notice how different things have been with the changes. 

“The commons have been so quiet this year and it just feels very odd.”