Written by Thomas Baker|
Photos by Thomas Baker
On March 24th, Governor Lamont’s Executive Order 7M canceled school until April 20th. Classes in Clinton Public Schools have not been in session since Friday, March 13th. Online learning at Morgan commenced on Wednesday, March 25th. Students began to do assignments on Google Classroom and watched lessons via videos that teachers made from home. Everyone is in quarantine, and this temporary learning is one that will be remembered in the high school’s history.
Junior and Senior prom, and field trips abroad and in-state have all been canceled or postponed indefinitely. Seniors are worried that they will not have a graduation and that the freedom to travel and socialize in the summer may be in jeopardy. However, Morgan faculty see the need to push forward with learning regardless, and as online learning starts, students are voicing opinions about a system that was unexpected, however out of their control.
Day one of online learning brought some confusion as to whether there was any structure to assigned work. Lack of in-person instruction caused confusion. However, as the day progressed, students realized that they could just do the work in whatever order they wanted. Senior Logan Cummings stated that “There’s no longer a line between schoolwork and homework. I love it. It’s a more laid back version of school and it’s a lot less stressful in terms of time management.”
However, not everyone had this opinion on day one. Senior Rachel Schmardel explained how she preferred being at Morgan: “I can’t really focus on work in a casual setting like being at home” Rachel said, “I like the structure and pressure of having to be in the classroom.” Some suggestions after day one included the request for a Zoom or Google Meet option. “I think some sort of video conferencing option would help me to focus because it would be the closest thing to a classroom setting,” said senior Emma Blair.
Although the system of high school at home may not be popular with all, it is out of our control, and the most that we as students can do is share suggestions to make our ability to learn from home more efficient. It is unknown territory for everyone including administrators and teachers, so fixing issues can take time.
After day three, the end of the week, Senior Andrew Daly said, “the first three days have been tough to adjust to, but they’re getting better. It’s nice to be able to work at your own pace, but it’s more difficult without having a teacher physically present in the room.”
Staff is working very hard to bring students the same level of learning outside of school, however, many students feel as though learning online has become very stressful. Instead of getting work done from 9-2, some students find themselves up late at night getting work done that they were not able to complete during “school.” We are told to get a good nights sleep, but for some, this isn’t possible.
On March 24th, Governor Lamont told WCBS-880 that students may not return to the classrooms until fall. Senior Prom has been rescheduled for June 5th, and Junior Prom is canceled for now. As for graduation, senior Maggie Guba thought that “as a safety precaution they won’t want so many people together.” Junior Ciro Falanga explained that “Right now across the country infection rates are continuing to rise and recently our town of Clinton has reported its first cases and fatality due to the virus. With these facts in mind and the fact that not enough testing is being done yet to get official numbers […] I do not think we will be going back to school for the remainder of the season.”
There is no doubt that this virus has and will continue to have a major effect on the Morgan School. Seniors may have ended their year at Morgan on March 13th without actually knowing it was their last day, and juniors who had SAT tests canceled this month will have to still meet requirements for colleges. The ripple effect that the virus had on our school leaves students learning online for now: school away from school in a sense.