For the March issue of the Chronicle, we interviewed students that switched from remote learning after first semester and have since experienced all three learning experiences. Here’s what they had to say:

Mallory Graybeal, 10

Q: Which of the three learning systems (remote, hybrid, in-person) was best for your learning?

A: Hybrid was much easier because it was open-note. But I didn’t really spend much time in hybrid, so I don’t know how that would be in the long run. While it lasted it was kind of nice because I got to go home after for a long time.

Q: What did you like/dislike about remote learning?

A: Remote wasn’t the worst ever. Some people, when I talked to them, really hated it, but I didn’t completely hate it. I do think it’s a little surreal. Part of it is that none of the work or anything feels real. 

Q: What do you like/dislike about fully in-person learning so far?

A: I get to talk to my friends a little bit more, but we’re still a little bit separated. Getting to see teachers in person, like when it comes to French, especially, learning it in person is so much better than online. 

Q: How was adjusting to different teachers and learning systems?

A: For the different teachers, I was lucky enough that some of them are the same, but I miss some of my old online teachers. They wouldn’t even know me, because online is kind of weird. I know them but if we saw each other in person they wouldn’t know who I was because of the Zoom and stuff. But I miss some of them because they were really nice, and it was kind of cool having teachers that taught at different schools. My favorite teacher taught at Olathe East.

Q: Anything else you want to add? 

A: I made a lot of new friends online, which I didn’t think I would because of Zoom. One of my new friends goes to East and he’s really nice. And I got to see some of my friends from middle school that go to other schools and they were in my classes again. It was really weird, but it was kind of fun.

Brooke Wagoner, 10

Q: Which of the three learning systems (remote, hybrid, in-person) was best for your learning and mental health?

A: Hybrid really was the best for my learning and mental health. I was able to get a good amount of sleep and have a good eating schedule, and it was just generally less tiring. 

Q: What did you like/dislike about remote learning?

A: Remote learning was not really a great system. All of my teachers were great, but I wasn’t able to get to know them or any of my classmates really. It was really hard to stay motivated and focused, and it felt like all of my classes seemed easier than they should have been. Trying to interact with other students, especially from some of the other high schools, in breakout rooms was probably the worst part about it, though. The only good thing about remote was that I was able to do most things independently, and it wasn’t as physically draining as normal school. 

Q: What do you like/dislike about fully in-person learning so far?

All in-person isn’t that great either. I really miss half time, even though I understand that it is basically impossible to have it safely and orderly. After constantly changing the school schedule over the past year, finally having full day school after a whole year is extremely exhausting.

Q: How was adjusting to different teachers and learning systems?

I really liked having in person teachers after being online after a whole semester. It was nice to finally be able to talk to my teachers without it being super awkward over zoom/the zoom chat. All of my teachers are super nice, so the adjustment wasn’t difficult. Adjusting to the different schedules while online was definitely interesting, though. None of the schedules were necessarily bad, I just wish that they would have stuck with something and kept it consistent.