Back to school (or not)

Editor’s Note: The Current looks at plans for returning to school this fall from different points of view; the first of the series is the student’s view.

I am a grade 9 student at Madawaska Valley District High School. I will be going to school physically in September and I’m fairly sure lots of the kids around here will also. There is no way I would miss out on the opportunity to see my friends and have the routine of school as I am very routine-oriented. I usually am not the guy who really wants to go back to school. However, this year is different because school essentially stopped at March Break for quite a while before online learning started. Therefore, we haven’t been to real school since the 16th of March.

The quarantine was fun for a couple of months. It was great to be able to spend lots of time with my family without them having to work or me having to go to school. I have always loved summer break; however, this break just went on a bit too long. It was annoying not knowing whether or not we would be able to go back to real school. I really hoped we would be able to as eventually the pandemic got boring and I just wanted to actually see my friends and BE WITH PEOPLE! As the summer went on I was able to hang out with my friends a bit and my cousin came over for a week so I did get to be with people somewhat. However, I still can’t wait to go back to school.

I understand that some people (or their parents) are afraid to physically go to school, which is understandable because COVID is still around. Also if they are little kids they won’t be wearing masks as it would be hard to physically distance them. However, older kids can wear masks and understand the need to physically distance. Also, the staff will be doing everything they can to create a safe and sanitized environment.

Students’ opinions differ

One grade nine student says, “I’m a little nervous but as long as people are social distancing and respecting personal space I think it will be fine.” Another opinion is, “It’s not a good idea.” Personally, I think that everything will be okay as long as all of the necessary precautions are taken.

Impact on school sports

The sad thing about all this is that some sports will be harder to play and will probably not run this year — first and foremost being basketball. I love playing B-ball, but as it is an indoor sport and players are usually quite close, I doubt that we will be able to play it this year. Also, ultimate frisbee, which is quite possibly my favorite sport, requires people to block each other by standing one foot in front of the person with the frisbee. However, a sport I do not expect to suffer is volleyball. Even though it is an indoor game it is not too strenuous so you could wear a mask playing it and not drown in sweat; also, players are quite far apart from each other.

This next year will be new and strange for all of us but just remember: together, we can get through anything.