by Lexi Kimmel ‘21

The Coronavirus has done what many students initially had hoped for–it shut down schools across the country. But now that school buildings have been closed for more than  two months and won’t reopen this school year, students have realized that online learning is not the laid back, easy-A version of actual school. The remaining weeks from third quarter were a transition period that eased students into online school, but the workload for fourth quarter is close to what actual school gave out–minus the class time to do it.

The school week begins with a week-load of work given Monday, allowing students to see the headaches to come. To make the assigning process worse, work given is hard to find and is not all on the same website. My classes are split between MyMCPS classroom and Google classroom, making it harder to access the work I have. Due dates and assignments get lost in the stream of emails that flood my inbox, forcing me meticulously to pick through each one and record my work. Students everywhere are struggling to stay afloat in the sea of work.

Although online schooling is not easy, the staff of Sherwood High School have been nothing but understanding and flexible. Reasonable extensions are given and generous time is allotted for assignments. No additional funding, no extra budget, no real training, and the teachers just do it. They are making it happen, showing how truly amazing teachers are. Students and teachers are both struggling, but we are all here for each other.