At Wayne Valley the lives of students and teachers have been turned upside down by the Coronavirus.  On top of that, the freshmen were challenged with a lack of experience with the school. The change in schedule, one way hallways, and virtual learning has impacted the people of Wayne Valley. 

Freshman Luke Dipre, admits the one-way hallways have been inconvenient. “I have to take a longer walk to get to a class down the hall,” he tells us. In addition to the one-way hallways, the schedule has also changed to accommodate block scheduling and social distancing. Although the schedule is not perfect, Luke tells us that it is good for the circumstances. 

Online learning has been a new obstacle thrown at students this year. Luke tells us online learning has been effective this year. “I think the teachers have been doing a good job keeping the Meets organized and are very helpful when answering students’ questions. I do think Google Meet isn’t always the most reliable.”  The technology has been a big problem for students this year. He tells us this would be the one thing he would change this year. He doesn’t like that we rely on technology so much. If something broke down, what would happen with online learning?

 Some students prefer virtual days; Luke however prefers being in school. He tells us he learns better that way and values the in person connection. He likes having live classes as opposed to preposted work. He also finds virtual Wednesdays a big help because he likes to be home in the middle of the week so he can sleep late.

Safety and cleanliness in schools are big topics this year.  So is the school taking enough safety precautions this year? Luke thinks so. In addition to wearing masks everyday, the school has split into 3 cohorts and has mapped one-way hallways around the school. Currently, there are 3 cohorts: A,B and C. If we were to move into the next stage, cohort B would split into half, half going with A and half going with C. Unfortunately, Luke doesn’t believe that the cohorts will combine but that the school will close down again. He says that the school board will want to prevent a COVID outbreak as it might come back around. His logic behind it is it will be very hard to prevent others from getting sick after one person has. 

Students know that this school year is going to be different. In order to get the most out of this year, students will have to get used to a new normal.