A Socially Distanced Education

Family time: remote learning together. Submitted.

The Peninsula Pulse has dedicated a page in each issue from April 24 to May 22 for the students of each Door County high school. This week we feature the work of Southern Door student writers. 

by Stephany Massart, Sophomore

Many victims of the spread of COVID-19 are students, many of whom are confused and struggling to learn online. A few weeks ago, a poll of Southern Door High School students offered a closer look into how students are handling this major change.

“It’s hard to stay on task with class, no matter what room I’m in,” said Rose Purdy, a Southern Door senior. “Trying to stay in the ‘school routine’ is practically impossible. Now that the sun is out, I have this awful longing to be outside all the time.” 

Other students are looking at their education under quarantine in a different, more positive light.

“My experiences during this epidemic have helped me to learn more about myself and to do the things I’ve never really had time to do, like teach myself piano and write stories,” senior Anna Alrand said. “What I’ve been learning, though, is to keep doing what I love to do and try new things.”  

“I kind of like being at home all the time,” junior Brianna Partyka said. “I love doing school online because I can do things at my own pace, and I don’t have to get up early.”

During the week, students are logging in during their regular class time.

“I know that the times are changing now because of COVID-19, but I don’t think I ever really worried about it until just recently,” freshman Amanda Austin said. “All the news that I’d read felt so far away, almost like it was taking place in a whole different world, like in books I read and the movies I watch … I never really paid attention to it much until it started hitting closer to home … It all came so suddenly, so abruptly, and naïve as I was, I never saw it coming.” 

Although we are not in a dystopian novel, waiting for the protagonist to solve the problems of COVID-19, students are figuring it out, engaging, learning and planning for their future.