up front | advice
A New Day After pandemic closures, teachers and students offer tips on returning to the classroom BY EMMA AYRES
34 BACK TO SCHOOL | 2021
Emma Ayres, age 12, is a sixth grader at Hunters Woods Elementary School in Fairfax County, Va. Her favorite subject is social studies, and she loves reading, playing soccer and spending time outdoors with her neighborhood friends.
SHANNON AYRES
O
n March 16, 2021, I went back to school in person for the first time in over a year. It felt like the first day of school. I was excited and nervous to finally see people. By the end of the day, it felt almost like I had never been gone. Some things were different than a regular first day of school, though. I have to bring in a 15-pound backpack every day, full of everything from my laptop to a spare mask. We put our backpacks, lunches and anything else we bring in a laundry basket next to our individual desks. At recess, we have a strict spot on the field to go to, and our teacher has a bag of activities. We can’t use the playground unless our teacher reserves it. Each person gets an activity, and we aren’t allowed to trade or touch the same thing as someone else on the same day. When you go back in person, be prepared to spend PE throwing a Frisbee at a cone and then running after it. (We can’t toss it to each other.) It can get tiring wearing a mask all day, but you get used to it. We have mask breaks where we go outside, all face the same direction more than 6 feet away from each other and take off our masks. The only other time we take off our masks is when we have lunch. We have to lean over our desks into a cardboard test divider to eat, which feels a little too much like you are a turtle. We wash our hands before lunch and put on hand sanitizer every time we enter the room. I’ll miss being at home because I could go get a snack or go to the bathroom when I wanted to, and it was nice to take tests in my room. Sometimes it feels like people forget that there isn’t always a mute button on (like in virtual class), and just blurt out everything. But being back in school finally feels normal.
