Have you ever experienced an event so bizarre that you convince yourself it should be normal? That pretty much sums up the in-person back-to-school experience, which looks like it belongs in a contemporary dystopian novel. After almost a year of online learning, Desmos, Padlets, breakout rooms, Go-Formatives, and struggles to make 2021 a semi-normal year for high school students, students’ hopes and wishes to go back to school have been answered. Everyone knew it would be an entirely different reality when going back to school during a worldwide pandemic, and many rumors of school being almost prison-like didn’t exactly calm anyone’s nerves. Still, as the Cohort B students stepped foot into AFHS, some for the first time and some for the last, it became extremely apparent just how noticeable the changes would be, leaving students to decide whether or not it would be worth it to go at all.
Virtual Academy students and Plan B teens that decided to remain virtual as the in-person date drew closer may have an abundance of questions regarding the new everyday procedures of being back in school and how much they differ from normalcy. At this point, many high school students may find it difficult to recapture what high school used to look like, as it has been so long since any aspect of life could be considered normal. Still, looking at the new procedures put in place for the safety of students and faculty at AFHS, it remains easy to see the differences. On a “new normal” day back at AFHS, students wake up at around 5:45-6 AM in order to get dressed, have a quick breakfast, and catch the bus, but don’t forget a mask. As the bus pulls up to their stop, students put on their masks, climb inside a semi-empty bus, choose basically any seat, and ride to school feeling nostalgic and perhaps a little drowsy.
Upon arriving at school, the first thing students notice would be the utter lack of attendance. There may be six or seven students getting a screening check, four or five walking up to the school, and just a few climbing out of the other buses. With so few students actually showing up, especially since they have already been split by cohorts, it takes about five seconds to answer the symptom questions and get your forehead scanned to check the temperature. After that, students get to finally walk into the school for the first time in months, walk through the halls, sit in the cafeteria, talk to old teachers, and converse with other students just as they did long ago.
After taking their first few steps into the school, students will notice the red arrows that cover the floors, directing which way to go, similar to many grocery and retail stores, except in this case, you actually do have to follow them. That can get a bit annoying when students can directly see their classroom but have to walk around in a circle to actually get there. Still, it does allow them to soak up more nostalgia and see more of the lockers, classrooms, and water fountains on each floor. Speaking of water fountains, since students will not be able to actually drink straight from them anymore, there have been improvements made to let students fill up their water bottles with the water fountains. When life gives you lemons…
Now to the most important part of being in school: attending class. Teachers this year have been so accommodating to their students regarding late work, tardiness, absences, missing assignments, and school in general. This remains true when it comes to in-person school. When students find their classroom after following the arrows for a while, they get to sit at a desk (remember desks?) and log into their Google Meet along with the rest of the class so that everyone can experience the lesson together. The only difference: in-person students get to be in the learning atmosphere that they haven’t been a part of in months. Not only that, but the lack of temptations and distractions also allows students to prioritize their work over watching TV or playing video games.
When it comes to in-person school, the most confusing part of the day would be lunch. Since lunch gets split into three different sections, it would be wise for students to already know when they go to class and when they get to eat. For all cohorts, lunches will be split up by what class students have during their third period. Those that have P.E, CTE/ESL, or Science classes during third, will have A lunch. Students with English, Social Studies/History, or Special Ed classes have B lunch, and those with Math, World Languages, or Art during third period have C lunch. A lunch students go directly to the cafeteria for lunch after their second period and then have both synchronous and asynchronous class time right afterwards in their third period. B lunchers go straight to their third period after second period ends for synchronous class time, then go to the cafeteria, and finally return to their third period class for asynchronous time. Lastly, the students that have C lunch will go straight to their third period class for both synchronous and asynchronous time, then they will go to the cafeteria for lunch. Confused yet? Don’t worry, it gets easier.
While everyone knows that these modifications help keep people safe and make it okay to come back to school, it can still feel like the high school experience that AFHS teens have been craving keeps slipping away. Nevertheless, having the option and the opportunity to walk through the halls of AFHS, even for just one day, can give many students, specifically seniors, the closure they have been waiting months for. In this way, perhaps it may be worth wearing a mask and following the arrows to say goodbye to such a significant, unforgettable part of every teenager’s life.
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