The choice between hybrid or virtual

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Since March 2020, nothing has been the same. COVID-19 has affected the lives of many people. Many adults have lost their jobs causing them to not be able to pay bills or buy groceries. Yet, adults are not the only ones affected by COVID-19. What about the students? Students attending Lawrence North in August had a decision to make. Go back on a hybrid schedule or attend classes all online. 

“This choice really helps with my learning and helps me gain material that I wouldn’t be able to gain through a screen. I get to go through the lesson with the teacher and ask for clarification on work I may need some help with,” hybrid freshman Kris Chong said. 

At LN, the hybrid schedule works where a student goes into the building for in-person instruction for two days a week and is online the rest of the week. For many students this is an ideal option because it’s as close to normal as they can get. Even though students may only be seeing teachers two days a week, it seems to be a preferred option. In interviews with hybrid students, they said that being at home is a large distraction. With phones, TVs, family, etc, it can be hard for students to stay on task.  It was also made known that learning through a screen can be difficult for many students. It is easier to understand the lessons and attain the information when in person. Being in a classroom environment helps students to stay focused and learn more according to hybrid students. 

“One challenging thing for me is time management. It’s much harder for me to be focused on class work at home 24/7,” all virtual freshman Ashley Williams said. “It was mostly my parents’ decision to do virtual, but I also didn’t want to risk getting COVID.”

All virtual students don’t go into school at all. As said by hybrid students, going in person to school helps students to understand the information better. Virtual students seem to feel the same. So if most virtual students feel that learning online is harder then why choose all virtual?  Most virtual students decided to make this decision because of COVID-19. COVID-19  can be very severe and most students or parents of students don’t want to risk catching the virus. It makes students like Williams feel safer. Although virtual might be better for students safety, it definitely makes it harder for students to stay focused and learn. 

“LN decided to make the choices virtual and hybrid because it’s what’s best for our families,” Brett Crousore said.

The two choices of virtual and hybrid were presented to students, so they had a choice for what was best for them. If they felt all virtual was best for their safety then they were able to have that option. At LN, families and students are one of the most important aspects of the school. Keeping students safe and making sure they stay healthy is a big focus especially this year with COVID according to Crousore. To keep students safe many precautions have been placed like mask wearing, social distancing, etc. 

“In the classroom, there are huge buckets of wipes and hand sanitizer in every classroom. Shutting down the water fountain. The extensive cleaning of the school and every classroom. They wipe down every lunch table between lunches,” Crousore said.

As said, before keeping students safe is a big priority. Extensive cleaning has been put in place to hopefully help kill off the virus. Crousore has made sure that the building is clean and that students stay safe by disinfecting themselves as well as the area they sit in. Keeping the school clean helps to keep everyone safe.

“Students have been awesome. There isn’t much trash that has been around and they keep areas clean. They are also good with mask-wearing.” Crousore said.

Keeping the students and teachers safe is not just Crousore’s job, but everyone elses. The students are a big part of keeping the school safe and according to Crousore they have done a good job at it. Many students know that COVID-19 is a serious ordeal and everyone tries to take it seriously. This is why students who wear masks and social distance do it for themselves but also for the safety of others.

“I’m not scared of getting COVID-19, it’s more I’m scared of putting others in harm if I were to have it,” hybrid senior Daniela Dall said.