Photo by Rayne Welser
On Friday, Oct. 9, the freshmen were given the opportunity to attend in-person school, where upperclassmen and staff members assisted them around Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School’s campus. On Thursday, Oct. 15, all other grade levels returned to school as well. Returning students are required to follow several rules upon returning to ecampus. We followed freshman Rebecca Stember through her daily school routine as a returning student.
The Morning Routine
Stember’s alarm goes off at 6:15 a.m. She rolls out of bed and goes to her bathroom to wash up and brush her hair and teeth. After she finishes in the bathroom, she puts on her outfit for school and her ID badge, then heads downstairs for breakfast. Prior to leaving for school, she packs up her backpack with an extra mask, her lunch, computer, charger and any work that she took out the prior night. Once she is completely ready, her parents drive her to school at 7:15 a.m.
“Personally, I am neutral about waking up so early because obviously, I like sleeping. However, I like how school ends earlier,” Stember said.
Arriving at School
Once Stember exits out of her mom’s car, she walks down the carline toward the big red gate and puts her mask and ID badge on. Stember sees Principle Michelle Kefford every morning and is greeted. This interaction makes her feel like she is welcomed into school. Once Stember passes the big red gate, she walks to her first class of the day.
Inside each classroom
Once Stember walks into class, her teachers usually give a couple of minutes to log onto her Microsoft Teams meeting, get out a pencil and charge her computer. Next, her teachers go over the agenda by showing her what all of the assignments are and where to find them on Canvas.
“They may teach using various methods such as Nearpods, discussions or maybe note-taking,” Stember says.
Once she has learned the lesson, her teacher gives an assignment. She completes her assignment toward the end of class and gets assigned homework. After, she is offto her next class.
Lunch
Due to the ongoing pandemic, lunch at school is set up differently than previous years. When it's time for Stember to eat lunch, she prefers to sit at a table with one of her friends while being socially distanced from the other tables.
The tables and benches are socially distanced and are designed to seat two people. Although the changes are going to take a little getting used to, it still allows lunchtime to be enjoyable.
Dismissal
Once Stember is dismissed from class at 2:40 p.m., she heads to the carline where her parents pick her up.
“Once I go through the red gates, I wait in the carline, socially distanced, for my car,” Stember said.
Stember notices that due to the small number of kids who decided to attend school, the carline goes by much faster than usual.
Credits:
Created with an image by insung yoon - "alarm clock"