Northridge High School 2901 Northridge Road Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35406
est. 2003
THE MAY 2020
NORTH RID GE
www.northridgereporter.wordpress.com
REPORTER
The student est.voice 2003of Northridge High School
VOLUME 16 ISSUE 5
SENIOR SPRING SQUASHED
Seniors lose lasts with spring sports, prom, and graduation canceled for COVID
CHARLOTTE FARRAR NEWS EDITOR The seniors of Northridge High School entered the Jag Lobby as on any other Friday. Many talked of spring break while others rushed to turn in assignments before the end of the grading period but few realized that this March day would be their last in the Northridge halls. That night, the voice of Principal Dr. J. Tygar Evans came through phones across Tuscaloosa to announce that schools would be closing until April 6 to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Over the weeks to come, seniors and their families would receive many similar calls announcing extensions to this break and, eventually, the cancellation of the remainder of the 2020 spring semester. “I didn’t know that my last time that I was in school was going to be my last time at school and, being a senior, it’s sad because you want to remember that and make the most of it,” senior Sophia Allen said. On April 6, students ventured online to experience their senior year in an unprecedented way. Despite the efforts of Northridge staff to smooth this transition, seniors encountered new obstacles with online learning. “I really don’t like doing online school...it’s really hard to learn online without being able to ask questions in-person,” senior Jennifer Stroud said. Northridge has instituted a grading policy allowing senior students to accept their grade from the third nine weeks grading period as their final average, though it is not applicable to AP, Dual Enrollment, ACCESS, or half-credit classes, such as economics. In a survey of 46 seniors, 76% of students stated an intention to keep their third nine weeks grade. However, 67% of that same population expected to continue coursework online, overwhelmingly due to school requirements regarding Dual Enrollment and AP classes. “I liked [the grading policy]...but I feel like they should have had some sort of add-on for AP classes,” Stroud said. “I don’t mind continuing to work...it just stresses me out doing things online knowing my grade can be affected by it.” Meanwhile, students are mourning the loss of their senior year and reflecting on their lasts at Northridge. Asked about a favorite memory from senior year, students overwhelmingly turned to football festivities. Flag parades, pep rallies, Friday night lights, and homecoming week were all popular responses as seniors considered which moments they loved most. Still, many seniors are left saddened by the cancellations of spring events. “I was most looking forward to all of the senior rites of passage: senior skip day, a senior trip, and, obviously, graduation and prom,” senior Carson Ledbetter said. Ledbetter notes many common disappointments: When asked which two cancellations were most disappointing, 35 of 46 seniors pointed to graduation and 26 of 46 to prom. For many, though, it was the less universal cancellations that felt most disheartening. Many senior art students have been anticipating and preparing for culminating performances for years past. Band drum major and
“ratherI would graduate,
and I would rather not graduate on Zoom.
”
-EMMA BISSELL
senior Scarlett Maples said she was taking the cancellation of her senior spring band concert the hardest. “It’s a big deal,” she said. “ I’ve been looking forward to this since December of my 6th grade year.” The cancellation of spring semester has also brought the cancellation of the spring musical, “Beauty and the Beast Jr.,” in which seniors Sophia Allen and Sam Allen (no relation) were set to take on the leading roles. “It’s really important to me and something that I was really looking forward to, especially because I was going to do it with my best friend Sam...it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us,” Sophia Allen said. Other seniors are saddened by the abrupt cancellation of senior sports. Among others, soccer, tennis, and baseball have had their seasons cut short with little chance of being rescheduled. “It was heartbreaking,” senior soccer captain Emma Bissell said. “The team is still going to be great [next year]; they’re not losing too many valuable key pieces that won’t be replaced, but it’s sad because I really wanted to go out strong.” Northridge clubs are also adapting to a new way of being. Senior Jennifer Stroud, Vice President of Girls Learn International, commented on the struggle of remaining active in the midst of these changes. “It’s just going to be really hard not being face-to-face,” Stroud said. “In GLI we like to have little parties and bring food, and we can’t do any kind of fundraising like we had wanted to...we just discuss things without being able to do anything, which our whole goal for the club this year was to do more events,”. The yearbook staff is also scrambling to complete the book and fill in gaps as many events they had reserved pages for are canceled. Even more, the staff is concerned about maintaining the same quality of reporting as in previous years: Without regular congregation of the Northridge community, it is hard to cover a variety of students and to ensure that students have something positive to look back on. “It’s going to be really difficult to continue to get diverse coverage and to have different people from different cliques at school...There’s going to be a lot missing from the yearbook that’s pretty sad,” staffer Jennifer Stroud said. In this moment, seniors are thankful for the support of their teachers and administrators, who are working to be there for seniors as much as possible and are looking into rescheduling important events. “Communication is important,” Williams said. “For seniors, I have just tried to be flexible and understanding. Many are going through a range of different emotions and struggles simply with the way their senior year ended.” Seniors themselves are eager to see events rescheduled into the summer or even later. When surveyed, 89% of seniors said they were in favor of having events rescheduled while 78% of respondents said they would attend a rescheduled event even if it required rearranging prior plans and another 14% said they would consider doing so. Additionally, 83% of those in favor of rescheduling events said they would prioritize graduation. “I think graduation needs to be prioritized,” Bissell said. “I would love it if we could have a makeshift prom, even if it’s not at Northridge, but that’s not our first priority. I would rather graduate, and I would rather not graduate on Zoom.” Many aspects of transitioning into college and life after high school are now uncertain as coronavirus-related delays and cancellations pile up. Those students who are yet unsure where they will be studying next year are now forced to make a life changing decision without resources they might regularly expect. “It’s really unnerving because I have to pick somewhere to be for the next four years without ever being there,” she said. “It’s a really hard decision when you don’t have that
SENIOR POLL: WOULD YOU ATTEND A RESCHEDULED EVENT EVEN IF YOU HAD TO REARRANGE PRIOR PLANS?
Graphic by Charlotte Farrar via Canva experience at some colleges and you do with others.” For some, changes due to coronavirus are also changing the criteria they are using to make a decision. With greater uncertainty surrounding college sports, Emma Bissell has reconsidered her desire to play soccer at the college level. “I decided not to play [college soccer] because I felt like, if the Coronavirus continues and NCAA could be suspended in the fall, I didn’t know if I’d want to be trapped somewhere,” Bissell said. “I’d rather go somewhere that is more open and not just based on soccer.” Coronavirus adaptations have also altered scholarship allocation for college. Sophia Allen, who will be attending Shelton State Community College for nursing in the fall, is grappling with virtual interviews and auditions. “Making a first impression over a facetime call is a lot different,” Allen said. “You can’t have a real conversation with the person that is about to decide all of your future for you. It’s nerve wracking and scary, but it’s the best we can do right now.” Beyond first impressions, the experience of auditioning remotely feels very different from auditioning face-to-face and could even change the outcome. “Million Dollar Band percussion auditions have been moved online, a drastic change from normal,” Maples said. “It’s very hard to assess how skilled someone is over a video.” More than anything, seniors must now say difficult goodbyes in unconventional ways. Seniors overwhelmingly stated that teachers and friends--the NHS community--are what they will miss most next year. “I wish I could say, ‘Hey, thank you for everything! Even though you may not realize you did anything for me just waving in the hallway or saying ‘have a good day’ made my life easier,” Bissell said. After four years of high school, seniors never expected such an abrupt and forceful end to this formative experience. Despite the sadness, though, there is a great deal of gratitude and joy that seniors will hold close long past high school. “Thank you,” Allen said. “It was four years of growing up; you’re a different person when you start school as a freshman than you are as a senior...I’m really grateful for it, for everyone.”