School Before and After COVID-19

Maddison Barham-Perez

Teenagers and teachers have a lot to handle because of the Covid restrictions in Pahrump Valley High School. This all took place between the years 2019-2020 in order to stop the spread of Covid-19. Although, it didn’t all used to be so complicated.

 

School, it used to be fun the hallways would have students racing up and down the stairs. More students came down than they did up. The cafeteria was crowded with students, four rows traveled down to the kitchen cafeteria. It was as if each group of students had a part of a table that they would sit at each and every day. It was loud and crazy as students would move from inside to outside. 

 

Outside you would see the same people, the same food cart, and the same backpacks all in the same areas nothing changed really. Not just that but teenagers hugged even if it stopped a whole group of people walking towards them, the whole school had its own hand shake some seperate from others, nothing stopped us from feeling close to our friends. It was regular high school. This might even be too much information for some people but students would even kiss under the stairs! They always got in trouble. 

 

The classrooms were filled with students and all our troubles in school, other than the fact that we hoped that we would do good on an assignment, was that we wouldn’t be sitting next to our friends in the next seating chart. 

 

School used to be great, now during Covid-19 our troubles are much more than they used to be. We have to worry about staying 6 feet apart from our friends, keeping our masks over our face, getting our work in for every class, and hoping that one day it will go back to normal. The cafeteria is closed so things definitely changed. Less students are gathered in classrooms while our desks need to be separated in order for the risk of getting Covid to lower. The hallways and stairs became less crowded. We have days when we go to school and days where we stay home. Students either go to hybrid from Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday, the other following days we are all online, or the students are regularly all online. 

 

The depression rates our higher in schools due to the fact that Covid-19 has had a huge impact on students. I know all of this from the help of my fellow classmates, students, and teachers in Pahrump. “I think that this COVID-19 stuff is stupid because we cant really do anything at all,” says Jovoni Price, a fellow student in PVHS.  “It is hard to stay distant because of how many people and masks are a good idea but it is sometimes hard to breathe,” says Zaiden Martinez, a fellow classmate. Both have a realistic and understanding point. In all, students are having trouble with schooling now because of Covid-19 and miss the old times.