The Shoemaker Bugle

•Schools Should Stay Closed

By Hermaione Sanchez

As a student, being in front of a screen for more than 7 hours a day is exhausting; and for teachers, I’m sure it is too. Although reopening schools sounds like a wish come true, it is dangerous and shouldn’t be done unless it is completely safe to do so.

It is no news that Covid has ended thousands of lives and has affected millions, but that doesn’t mean that we should risk our lives just because we’re bored or tired of it. A problem doesn’t disappear just because you want it to. We have to work towards it. Staying inside, wearing masks, it’s all very simple, really. Follow simple rules for a couple of weeks or months and we won’t have to stay this way for a couple more years. There are many people saying, “Yeah, but Covid cases decreased and it is somewhat safe to open schools up again.” What they don’t see, though, is that opening schools up will increase Covid cases and will just lead to closing again. It’ll become a cycle. It has to be completely safe in order for students and teachers to get back out there.

Imagine this: A student who lives with their parents, young siblings, and grandma. Their mom has an extremely low immune system, their grandma is over 60 years old, and their sibling is only 6. If schools made the selfish decision to re-open, this student would have to get back out there and possibly bring the virus home. Their dad, who works, could spread it at work, his coworkers to their families, and so on. What has this created? Hundreds of more cases. They could’ve easily been prevented. Not to mention, teachers also have kids and spouses they go to after school. They are all at risk. Teachers shouldn’t be put in that position. 

The best thing to do is wait and be careful. Hopefully, this vaccine that is being worked on will allow us to go back to normal without any deathly dangers. 

Although there are many problems with grades, attendance, and participation, the solution shouldn’t be risking our lives, or our family’s. There are other ways to solve issues that online school brings upon us. Regardless, we all appreciate everyone’s hard work through all this.

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•Schools Should Re-Open

By Angelica Moreno

With the idea of being in the presence of friends or just to be near people again as a collective, us teens and students have been waiting since March to be in school again. Even though we’ve hated going to school five days a week since Kindergarten, we never knew a plague would hit us; and I hope that a lot of people are with me on this–we didn’t get to cherish it, especially this class of 2021. 

Going on the second school year in quarantine, we, the class of 2021, have not gotten to sit in a school desk yet. (Remember sleeping on your desk instead of paying attention to the teacher? A high school student can only dream…) The class of 2020 at least had their first half (actually, nearly 3 full quarters). They cried about not getting their prom and walking for graduation, but we didn’t even have the chance to get ready for the first day of senior year. Although many people give up and just wear sweatpants, I liked seeing the people who wore sweatpants to the first day of school (and to the people who wore sweatpants with CROCS deserve a “do not care” award. I applaud them).

With the many protocols it would take to go back to school, I would suggest they’d be strictly followed like the “girls’ dress code.” There would be many things to take into account, rules to follow, obligations to get tested, always wearing a mask, keeping the social distance, etc. It’s not like every student and teacher wanted the “hybrid learning model.” The votes should be taken into account of how many kids and teachers would actually go. A “direct democracy,” it’s called. Everyone would get what they want for the rest of the school year. Although, if all teachers decided to continue online, then we’re out of luck for hybrid (I say this as if i’m in charge of this).

Here’s what I propose: I suggest that only seniors take part in hybrid learning. By that I mean ONLY the senior class set foot on campus for the second half of the school year. The graduating class is always small and it would really help those with low grades. We have no more time other than this year to finish our four year contract–earn those credits needed to graduate. Juniors still have time to redo classes over summer or retake them their senior year (assuming Covid gets better over the summer of 2021). Sophomores still have lots of time to make up classes and especially the freshman, they can figure themselves out over the course of their next three years. Something about online learning to the extent of daily Zoom calls discouraged my good time management habits and now my grades are crumbling to rock bottom. I know this isn’t only me because everybody in the district is concerned about what to do with students who have low grades. 

There’s no right or wrong answer to what should happen with online learning. Okay, yes, continuing online to keep people safe is a great idea; but there are pros and cons to hybrid and continuing online. Yes, you can ask questions on Zoom but we all know it isn’t the same. Should we continue online and have students who need help have constant low grades, or should we shift into hybrid learning and hopefully pass into learning thoroughly during a real lesson, able to ask questions and receive meaningful feedback? I opt for the latter.