With a new hybrid learning system here to stay for the foreseeable future, what changes can students expect to see and how will this affect different aspects of school lives? 

First, here’s a look at the safety precautions the school is taking to keep everyone safe, in hopes of returning  as close to normal as possible soon. 

The students are split into two groups. “A” group and “B” group, each going in on different days to make sure social distancing is possible.

Monday and Tuesday are “A” group days, Wednesday is online for everyone, and Thursday and Friday are “B” group days. When one group is in person, the other is online. Classes are mixed and students only see the other students in their group, which limits interaction between as many people as possible. 

Beyond that, on each day there are two lunches instead of what used to be just one lunch for everyone. Air Academy High School hasn’t had two lunches for a number of years. The two lunch groups are limited to the cafeteria, courtyard, and parking lot.

Masks are mandatory unless outside, and students are meant to go directly to class in order to avoid congregating in the halls. All food and water are pre-prepared and the water fountains are closed. All of these are necessary to reduce the spread of COVID.

Now the question is, with all of this, how does it affect day to day student life and extracurricular activities?

Junior Ariel Holdeman felt that group work would be the most impacted;

“I think it’ll affect group projects for students because that typically involves being close or working together outside of class,” she said. “So I believe it’ll be slightly more difficult but still do-able.” 

Sophomore Liv Carr commented on how every method of learning has its challenges and it’s just something we have to adapt to. 

“It has problems now, so it won’t be any different. Just different problems…. This is just another new normal that we’ll have to figure out.” 

Nathan Tada commented on the weird clash between in-person and online. When comparing Hybrid learning to normal in-person. 

“Hybrid makes classes feel much longer. At home, it doesn’t even feel like school,” said Tada.”I prefer in-person because it’s easier to focus and I can talk with friends at lunch… also in school, there is less work assigned which is a nice break.” 

The Kadets appear to have adapted differently and formed a wide variety of opinions and observations pertaining to hybrid and online school. 

This new chapter of history that is upon us does bring some uncertainty, but it is important to try and adapt to the hand that is dealt with rather than trying to live in the past.

It’s safe to say that hybrid learning is the best option we have, and will likely remain that way for the next few months. It’s important that we understand and adapt to the drawbacks and advantages of the different methods of learning this year. It will be interesting to see how school life varies from right now to the end of the year.