The 2020-2021 school year will be the first time in a year and a half that all 1000+ Northwood students are back to in-person learning. There are many changes to this school year from the Plan A of last semester. The Omniscient staff interviewed Northwood students to see how they felt about this change and coming back to school.
Many Northwood students are missing their friends and former classmates who moved to Chatham’s newest high school, Seaforth High School.
“I have a few friends who stayed at Northwood, but most of them went to Seaforth,” freshman Andi Wicker said. “I was kind of sad but I was still hopeful that my friends who were going to Northwood would be in my classes.”
Some students had mixed feelings about coming back to school, generally due to COVID-19. One of those students is junior Julian Willians.
“I feel it is too soon [to come back to school] with COVID numbers rising,” Willians said. “It feels good to have somewhat of a normal life back, but I would much rather be doing virtual. [However, I am excited to] have a social life back and see my friends.”
Other students dislike mask wearing.
“I am hoping one of these days we don’t have to wear these masks anymore,” junior Shanelle Green said. “[I dislike] having to wear one all day, and teachers telling me to have mine cover up my nose.”
According to The New York Times, there were 6,679 COVID-19 cases in North Carolina alone on Sep. 8, and over the entire duration of the pandemic, there have been 1,229,920 cases total in the state. Although there are concerns about COVID and coming back to school, junior Kaylee Burbee says she feels safe attending in-person school.
“I’m a little bit worried about the new strand [of COVID],” Burbee said. “But as long as people are wearing their masks and are vaccinated I think it is fine.”
As a greater sense of normalcy starts to set in, students are looking forward to getting back into their groove of learning and participating in after-school activities and special school events that would occur pre-COVID. Sophomore Zavante Thomas is looking forward to his classes, specifically his Earth and Environmental course.
“[I like it] because it has the basic science and engineering you need for courses you want to take in the future,” Thomas said.
One annual event that Northwood will be holding this fall that did not occur last year because of the pandemic is a play titled The Puffs.
“I’m really excited for a bit of normalcy and being able to get back to after school activities like theater and drama,” junior Abi Dasher said. “I’m really looking forward to being a part of [The Puffs] and its amazing cast and production. I am also grateful for being cast as a lead! I hope that this production gets the love and support and amazing audience that it deserves.”
Senior Asher Rockriver is feeling more enthusiastic about school this year than previous years.
“[I’m excited to be] taking vocals,” Rockriver said. “[Choral Director] Mr. [Matt] Hanson is an excellent teacher.”
Rockriver, a beatboxer, says he also tried out for Pitch Please, also under Mr. Hanson’s direction.
Despite the differences in how students feel about returning to school, most expressed hope for a positive experience this year.
