Some students choose to learn at home while other students attend school in-person. 

This decision is affected by many factors outside of school such as family, work, and other social events. 

Sophomore Abbie Cline chose to learn from home to prevent spreading the disease to her father. Although she misses her friends, she believes that online learning is better.

“I am kind of sad that a lot of my friends are doing actual school and I don’t get to see them, but I feel like distance learning is way better. I have a lot of family that I worry about, and I just didn’t want to take the chance of getting my dad sick and him possibly not recovering from it,” Cline said. 

Counselor Audrey Neuschafer wishes all distance learners would come back to school. She expects only two to three distance learners to not return at nine weeks.

“If I had the choice, I wish everybody would come back to the building. I think what we are seeing is a lot of kids are having a hard time with distant learning, and I think being in the building, you’re just more connected to the material and more connected to your teachers,” Neuschafer said.

Learning Lab and MTSS teacher Lynda Kerstetter believes the online program students use could be improved in some areas.

“I think of some individual cases where the online learning program that I run could have more guided notes for some of the electives that I do not have,” Kerstetter said.

Social studies teacher Brad Raine knows times are tough and looks at the situation from the online learner’s perspective. He believes that by simplifying his teachings, he can build a positive support system for his students.

“I think online learning is especially tough because you are asking students to be extremely disciplined and focus in a setting that may not be the best for learning,” Raine said. ”Students are going through one of the most challenging times that I myself as a teacher could never comprehend. By simplifying my teaching, I can focus on building a positive support system for my student and in turn, my success within my class improves.”