As the school year 2020-2021 is coming to an end,  we’ve all been through so much, facing  many challenges like COVID, keeping up with grades or just life in general. 

This school year was everything but normal. We had to create a new routine from what we normally are used to, such as the hybrid schedules, remote learning, mandatory mask, etc. 

The pandemic was a struggle in my life because I found it so hard to get anything accomplished. I’m sure others can agree with me as well. While we were on the hybrid schedule, it made me upset because I wouldn’t be able to see my friends who had a different day than me. 

Despite all the chaos with COVID, there were a few positive outcomes as well. I was able to spend a lot more time with my family rather than being at school all day and then having to go to work. This school year also taught me to not take anything for granted.  Being stuck at the house all day also made me appreciate being outside and hanging out with my friends as well. 

One of our students, Pereira Daniela, shares an input on her school year. 

“This school year was pretty good. I really enjoyed hybrid because I didn’t have to wake up so early, I could eat whenever I wanted, and I had a little more time to work on assignments. The whole pandemic was very stressful, and it made it extremely hard to socialize and be around friends. Once the district made the decision to come back face-to-face,  it was much better. I was able to make new  friends and spend a lot more time with the ones I already have.” 

Once we made the change to go back to five days, it was a little bit different than what we were used to. We haven’t had a normal school year since Fall of 2019. There were many emotions towards coming back to school full time in April.  Even though we could all finally see each other again, there were many other things keeping us away from each other. 

I believe that it was the safest way possible for the school to continue to do social distancing and keep everyone from seeing each other at lunch. With close contact it made things challenging because we wanted to keep students and others at home safe as well.

Monica Brisbon, a business and marketing teacher at Carolina Forest stated, “I liked the smaller class sizes and being able to build relationships with students. I also enjoyed having Fridays as a virtual day. The only thing that I disliked about hybrid is that it created a communication gap.” 

Thank you to the teachers who put their all in giving the best effort for us that is going to help us save our future. Another big thank you for having so much patience towards all your students as well.

Although the school year is coming to an end, we hope to see changes as coming back for the 2021-2022 school year. Oh, and one more thing!  Goodbye, plexiglass!