This school year hasn’t been what any of us expected, and it has posed unique challenges to students and teachers. The new COVID-19 requirements were certainly a culture shock, but social distancing and mask-wearing are easy compared to the mental issues that some people have been facing. Many students have struggled to feel an emotional connection to the school, so it should be a major goal to rebuild the sense of community next year.
Most years, especially during football season, our school is full of school spirit. The pandemic made it impossible to have in-person pep rallies and greatly limited the number of people who could attend sporting events. Without the fun parts of school, many students find it hard to stay motivated.
To keep students engaged and to improve morale, the school could offer opportunities for students to bond in a pandemic-friendly way next year. It is important to acknowledge the differing comfort levels between students when it comes to COVID-19 and to offer activities that can include a variety of people. The school could offer field trips to parks, zoos or other outdoor places where students may wear masks. Pep rallies could also be brought back, with students attending in groups, such as grades. Each group could go to the MAC to watch the pep rally one at a time, so everyone can enjoy it socially distanced.
Since the pandemic began, mental health struggles have become more commonplace among the student body, which can make it difficult to find a sense of unity. Group counseling is a good way to combat this. Although the Marauder Time Rithm lessons are a great mental health resource, students often brush them off, and sometimes don’t provide honest answers.
So to make Rithm entries more meaningful, school counselors or affiliated therapists could give Marauder Time lessons where people can share how they’ve been doing. Real human interaction and the Rithm AI tracking students’ mood over time could be a great combination.
It would be a great idea to encourage students to talk to each other. Rather than focus on lectures in the classroom, collaboration and conversation should be prioritized to help create classroom unity. After all, it would be ideal to at least be acquainted with the people you’re spending a semester with.
If the pandemic doesn’t end this summer, it will be vital to acknowledge that our situation is not ideal. We’ve never been through something of this magnitude before, so we can’t call it a “new normal.”
We have to acknowledge that the past year has been a low point in our history, and millions of people have been significantly affected by this virus. Knowing that you’re not suffering alone can lessen the burden at least a little.
After a year of isolation, it may be difficult for students to be thrown back into a social environment next school year. However, forming connections with other people is extremely important to our overall well-being and will make it easier to get through hard times. From connections in the classroom to pandemic-friendly social events, there are so many things that could make next year one to remember.
