80 more students return May 10; campus opens for lunch
Juniors Andrew Swinger and Todd Hao converse during lunch May 10. Andrew found the return with 9-11 graders different but appreciated seeing familiar faces. “At the end of the school day, walking through that giant mob of people in the lobby was something I’m not used to but glad its back,” Andrew said.
May 10, 2021
With seniors gone for May Project, May 10 was the first day for students in grades 9-11 to all be on campus together, including 80 distance learning students who returned for the first time this year. Another change was the return to an open campus for lunch.
“It’s been easier to feel a lot more involved in the class when I’m in person rather than online,” said ninth grader Isadora Glick, who had been on distance learning all year.
Junior Maya Mubayi also decided to make the transition to in-person learning after she realized her friends were returning and her family received a coronavirus vaccine.
“My first day has been good and in terms of safety it’s been a little better than I thought it would be,” Maya said. “Mr. Beekmeyer sent out an email saying that they wouldn’t be able to guarantee social distancing starting today, so I assumed there wouldn’t be as much social distancing, but there is social distancing in the classrooms, so that is something different than what I was expecting.”
Sophomore William Montague also made the decision to return to school. William’s adviser wasn’t in-person, which was a factor that he didn’t enjoy.
“We all just sat in the cafeteria, and I felt a bit disconnected from my advisory and the school environment in general,” William said.
While this was William’s first day back for in-person classes, he had visited often for track and robotics practice, so the return to in-person wasn’t too unusual for him.
When walking through the doors for the first time, Maya appreciated that Student Council members immediately greeted her with juice boxes and balloons.
Maya said, “I was like, ‘Oh this is like a welcome back to school’ — almost like your first day of school even though our first day of school was in May, which was a bit funny.”
While Maya didn’t leave the campus, she plans to get take out with her friends from a nearby restaurant.
Maya said, “I like the open campus policy because people in general can spread out more and aren’t confined to just the building.”
