Oliver Abbett, 4th Grader at PPES
Learning type: In person
Q1: Who are you lucky to have in your life?
A: I am lucky to have my family and friends in my life. I am lucky to have them because my family helps me with my work and cooks me food and takes care of me. My friends, they make me have more fun so I am not alone all of the time Covid keeps me away from my friends a little bit, which is kind of annoying.
Q2: How have relationships with friends and classmates changed, if at all, since the start of COVID?
A: We have been more spread apart and not in the same classes and desks are all spread apart from your friends. We have to go to different zones and recess and sometimes we aren’t with our friends. We have to eat in our classroom with only our class and not with other people in the school. Some specialists come to the class and we can’t go their classroom, like the art room. I still have all my friends, but I can’t hang out with them as much.
Q3: How has it been connecting and/or communicating with teachers during this time?
A: It is a little harder because they don’t have all of the same things. Specialists have to carry items into our room so we don’t have as many things for music and art so we don’t have as many things to work with. It makes it too hard for them to bring everything. My own teacher is hard to hear or understand with a mask sometimes. Sometimes I don’t feel close to him. Sometimes we talk online on Canvas. He is making things online on Canvas that we do. We just started Canvas this year.
Q4: How have friends and family helped you deal with this year’s challenges?
A: We can still hang out but far away, which still makes it fun. My family buys me masks and hand sanitizer and things to help. My friends call on FaceTime, and I play games with them. I didn’t do that before Covid. I have done outdoor activities with them to see them such as hiking or skiing. I saw them more in the fall when the weather was nice like for Halloween. It’s harder when the weather is cold.
Lila Jacoby, 6th Grader at EHMS
Learning type: Remote
A: Q1: Who are you lucky to have in your life?
A: I feel lucky to have such a loving, amazing family. My parents are always there to support me and help me and I have great siblings as well. I’m also lucky to have grandparents and cousins that call and facetime me often.
Q2: How have relationships with friends and classmates changed, if at all, since the start of COVID?
A: My friendships have definitely changed because I am a remote learner and the majority of my friends are learning in school. I try hard to stay connected but it is difficult. It is sad to me that I haven’t seen some of my friends since last March but I’ve also grown closer to a few friends who live nearby and are also remote.
Q3: How has it been connecting and/or communicating with teachers during this time?
A: I have a lot of respect for my teachers because remote teaching is hard and the teachers hadn’t really done it before last Spring. I can tell they are working really hard to engage with us and teach us in interesting ways. For example, my science teacher made science kits for all of us so we had the materials we needed to do experiments at home. I feel connected to my teachers because we have spent so much time getting to know each other through Zoom and emails. I feel badly for my teachers sometimes because there are often technical issues to deal with and also some students do not participate very much which is frustrating for all of us.
Q4: How have friends and family helped you deal with this year’s challenges?
A: My parents have helped me problem solve throughout this year’s challenges. For example, they helped me find a space that gives me some privacy for my Zoom classes but also does not make me feel isolated. They have also helped me become more organized since my work time is less structured than if I were in a classroom setting. One of my friends lives nearby so we go on walks a few days a week during our breaks which is great. It feels good to spend time with someone my age and it gives me an outdoor break from my remote school day. I also Facetime with my cousin from New York all the time. Sometimes we cook food at the same time while we are on Facetime. Those calls are a great distraction from the stress and challenges of this crazy pandemic for me.
