Written by Elly Herrick, Staff Writer, Photographer, Podcaster
A steady wave of in-person students has transferred to virtual learning over the past month. Since the first days of October, about 100 families made the switch to online.
Now about 68% of Indian Trail High School and Academy students are learning virutally. Why is this happening?
In the first week of school, students expected a fresh start. What they didn’t expect was two cases of Covid-19. When IT shut down and went all virtual for a week, students retreated from in-person and switched to online.
General studies junior Liv Dizon, shares the same fear as she switched in the first weeks of school.
“With (ITA) already having cases within a few days, it’s just seemed like a safer option,” Dizon said.
Usually breaking records is considered a good thing, but the only records Wisconsin is breaking is the amount of Covid-19 cases a day. Oct. 3 reached the highest number yet with 3,022 cases reported in a day. After that date, teachers and students noticed the jump of students going from in-person to virtual learning from in-person class sizes.
Business senior Lauren Cox shares how much the jump was noticeable.
“There’s only three of us [in my class],” Cox said.
Students not only jump online so it protects them and others, it also protects their sport and club activities.
General Studies junior Rebecca Hannaman protects her opportunity to play by switching to online.
“I transferred because of sports,” Hannaman said. “I don’t want to risk getting quarantined from being exposed and not being able to go anywhere and do sports.”
When 119 students and 10 teachers were ordered to quarantine after the first week, it concerned many families and students.
Med-Sci senior Diana Gonzales-Neder and her family fear for their own health and share the impact of switching online.
“The reason why I started doing virtual was because my dad was concerned about our health,” Gonzales-Neder said.
According to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention article released Sept. 11, 2020, the risk for severe illness from COVID-19 increases with age.
“They made the right choice,” said Gonsales-Nedar, referring to online students. “They’re concerned about themselves and about the rest [of us], so I think it’s pretty good that they switched to virtual.”
While in-person is a risk, General Studies junior Taylor Jacobson defends the safety of in-person learning.
“In-person is safe due to the low number of students in the school, along with us all wearing masks and being socially distanced,” Jacobson said. “I would encourage them to come back because everyone is following the COVID safety precautions.”
On Nov. 3, KUSD sent out a mass email stating that due to the number of staff and students that are quarantining or out sick, learning will be moved to virtual from Nov. 4 through Nov. 26. While on Nov. 9 the Kenosha County Health Officer Dr. Jen Freiheit strongly recommended that all schools within the county go virtual through Jan. 4, KUSD officials stated Nov. 10 they intend to continue to follow their Return 2020 plan.
“I was upset because many of my friends had moved online,” Jacobson said. “I was also kind of relieved because the student parking lot wasn’t going to be so hectic.”