Throughout the entire year, schools have slowly been bringing their students back to in-person school. Camas High School started with a 2 days a week hybrid schedule to test the waters of the coming back. As it turned out to be successful, the school finally decided to bring all the students back to a 4 days a week schedule with many of the same rules still being applied. Social distancing is one of the main rules that students are going to have to follow alongside wearing their masks.
With so many students coming back, there are speculations about if it is going to work. One main worry is if students will actually follow the safety protocols. When asked if there have been any major problems, CHS sophomore Josh Dabo said, “There have not really been any problems that I know of that have caused a big commotion. The only problem that I have seen is students getting told to bring their masks up during lunch after they are done eating, and also sitting socially distanced away from friends.”
Like many predicted, social distancing is very difficult, especially when students are around friends they are trying to catch up with and communicate with. There are pink tape lines all around the school to direct and show the students where they can and can’t sit when they have their lunch. All outside seating has been banned due to the close gatherings that many of the students participated in.
Although lunch may be the biggest concern, classrooms and desks also have to follow the same rules as well. CHS senior Jacques Birdsell said, “the classrooms have been fine and have been very clean this year compared to last year. Everyone has been doing fine sitting socially distanced for the most part, but it has been hard for sure this year.”
Teachers are required this year to wipe down the desks in between every class with disinfectant spray. Many have been anxious for months, wanting to get back into school, and the COVID-19 guidelines are not going to bother the students who truly want to be there and get the education they want. Moving forward there is going to be progress and the rules will continuously become less strict. Eventually the school will be back to normal, as seen before the pandemic.
