In the midst of the inauguration, the continuation of the pandemic, and all of the other things that are happening in our world, the school system has still managed to struggle onwards into the new year of 2021. In all reality, The school system is doing all right for the time being. With some public high schools in the region finally leaving online in the dust, hopefully for good. With that being said, lets take a look at just how schools have changed and how they hope to change in the near future.
Sports have taken a hopeful turn in 2021, with KSHSAA trying to have as many in person activities as possible, you can bet that sports would be one of the first things on the agenda. Still trying to limit exposure as much as possible, many different High Schools have maintained the “parents-only” rule for their audiences. Opting for a strict audience cap seems like the proper way to go after all. Especially after the recent exposure that several high school basketball teams have had in the region. Unfortunately, there have already been a good number of game cancellations in the new year because of COVID-19 exposure to one or more teammates on different basketball teams. Those cancellations, in most circumstances, result in the forfeit of that game on behalf of the exposed team. The Halstead hosted Rupp Tournament is one example of these unfortunate circumstances. Regardless of this recent bout of bad news, sports continue to go on and we can undoubtedly hope for a more action-packed spring sports season come March.
As for the fine arts, well, not much has changed. Bands are still rehearsing in whatever way they can, and the same could be said for choirs. As you can imagine, it can be difficult, trying to preform music while needing to don a mask. But, just as everyone else, the musical arts are getting through these difficult times in hopes of a better tomorrow. KMEA released the list of high school students who have achieved the state honor rank several weeks ago now, and while their plans for the near future have been all but completed.
School in general, has managed to continue on into the new year with high hopes. While many schools were forced to go online towards the end of 2020, 2021 has brought high hopes of an in-person future for education. Many high schools in the region have already taken steps to bring students into the classrooms that had been long since forgotten. It is undoubtable that online schooling has not been ideal for many parents and students alike.
After all, isn’t the point of school so parents can have some peace and quiet in the house every now and then? Online school hasn’t only been a burden on the parents though. The general consensus of students seems to believe that motivation to do school work suffered a mighty blow during online school. Not that students are normally motivated to do school work, rather, that it was much worse than normal. At home, there are an incredible amount of things to get distracted by. But I digress, hopefully as we become accustomed to the new year school will begin to transition back to what it was before this big mess.
With that being said, we can finally look back and say goodbye to 2020 in hopes that maybe, just maybe, 2021 will bring easier times for everybody. For students, parents, and everyone in between.
