It has been just over a year since the large wave of the COVID-19 virus hit the United States, and rapidly spread across the nation. Society a year ago looked much different than it does today, with many norms changing dramatically for the better, or in most instances the worse. Common norms that exist now would have been unimaginable a little over a year ago.

Although these changes seem very unusual compared to how life was not too long ago, some of these changes may be beneficial to our education system both this year, and several years to come.

“I think we’d be foolish to not continue using those practices,” principal Tom Lietz said, “which have really allowed the learning to go with you, rather than requiring you to come to the learning.”

To be specific, Teams has contributed a lot to the new teaching style. Students have to use it every day, so it’s crucial that it works effectively to ensure the proper education of virtual students. However, there are still imperfections with the application.

“The Teams meeting system has made us, in a good way, orderly and no one is jumping on top of each other,” Lietz said. “But there is now a hesitancy to actually comment and say stuff as a result of that.”

Even though our school has somewhat returned to in-person learning, our school is still trying to keep medical safety as a norm in the school. This is an attempt at limiting the spread of the COIVD virus as much as humanly possible.

“In the fourteen years that I’ve been a principal at this school, I’ve never once given out an award for perfect attendance,” Lietz said. “The reason why, is I think it’s the worst award ever. It encourages negative behavior. If you’re sick, you should stay home.”

With the old stuff becoming less present in our education system due to the virus, new changes are slowly becoming more prominent. As a result, they are seeming more regular in our modern lifestyle as time progresses, and the people running our education system are hoping to utilize our new tech reliance in a beneficial way for the students.

A lot of the changes that occurred were out of most people’s comfort zone, and may seem unusual and negative. However, many of these changes did benefit our society, and as we learn more about how to remain safe, we will most likely adapt some of these pandemic rules into our everyday lives. Some changes remaining for a while may be worse, but many may be better.