By Ariana Marquez
Freshmen during quarantine have been taking classes through zoom. However, there is an opportunity for students to return to school on campus on Thursday, March 25th by social distancing and signing up for on-campus instruction.
Hailey Aston Redwood High school Activity Director says, “We are currently working on organizing freshmen orientation. At the orientation students will be given guided tours of main and vista, receive a campus map, schedule, and information about their remind group/social media to stay up to date. They will meet some teachers and hopefully get a chance to get acclimated to the campus before we return on Thursday.”
Aston also says, “At this point, I think everyone is very aware of the safety precautions. Teachers will be reminding students of them every period and there are signs/stickers posted everywhere on campus to help students focus on safety.” She adds, “There are so many things I want the freshmen to experience. I don’t think I can just choose one. I want them to experience the ice breaker rally/dance just because it has such a big focus on the freshmen, but of course, I want them to experience cowhide and the whole week of activities/school spirit that comes with it.”
She says, “We have been given so many policies and procedures to implement to keep everyone on our campus safe. We have also had lots of time to ensure our classrooms are prepped and ready for the return on students.” She concludes with, “I am so excited for the freshmen to finally get to experience what it means to be a Ranger!”
Mariah Gomez ’24 says, “As a Freshman who hasn’t gotten the opportunity to be on campus, I am excited to finally experience what high school kinda feels like. Another part of me is also nervous because I don’t really know what to expect and don’t want to feel as full-distance learning would have been a better choice for me.” She adds, “Due to the circumstances, there isn’t a whole lot of things teachers and staff could do. But I think just helping us stay motivated to push through the rest of this school year would not only benefit freshmen but the upperclassmen as well.”
She also says, “Returning to in-person learning gives me a lot of hope that things are making progress and we will end the school year strong.” She adds, “When returning to in-person learning I am nervous about not knowing the campus well enough even with the upcoming virtual tour.” She concludes with, “What I am excited about when returning is getting to meet my teachers in person and being able to sit in the classroom rather than sitting in front of a computer screen.”
Jonathan Luna ’24 says, ” I for some reason feel in between nervous and excited. I haven’t left my house in over a year and with an exception of an isolated trip to pick up groceries through a car. The reason I mention this is since I forgot how to socialize and my social anxiety grew, but what I am trying to do is be positive about this return to a new campus over a year.”
He also says, “Well there’s is one thing a lot of teachers or staff can do to make this return more comfortable for freshman and it’s being simple. I think simple is the best way to describe this since everyone is feeling tensed up and they should just take it easy on us, so once we come back from spring break we start fresh and determined to get in the right mindset. Also to be open-minded with everyone since this pandemic has opened everyone’s eyes to their true self and this pandemic has also created multiple struggles that they are trying to control.”
He adds, “The fact that people are able to return back to in-person such as me gives me the mindset things are returning back to nervous although we still need to wear a mask for everyone’s safety. However, it is hopeful to see multiple returning this week before spring break since it’s giving me nostalgia from a year when schools shut down and it was supposed to be two weeks off and I guess those two weeks are up.”
He also adds, “There are multiple things I’m nervous however for me the thing that gets me nervous about returning to school is my social anxiety. In which I tried so hard during zoom classes to not care however I can’t avoid it since I tense up so bad and start shaking but hopefully coming back to school gives me a new start. Adding on that my anxiety is just in general making up scenarios and convincing me that it will turn out bad but imma keep it positive.”
He concludes with, “The thing that gets me excited for to return back to in-person has to be a real face-to-face distant conversation with a person and not a rectangular box. I haven’t had a conversation face to face that isn’t a family member, with that being there are multiple things that we are able to talk about now due to the many events of 2020 overall I’m excited.”
Freshmen, as well as Redwood High school staff, are excited about the first in-person looks they get to see of not only Redwood Campus but the teachers they have connected with through zoom and friends that they have missed.