Home used to be a place for junior Anna McCarthy to unwind after a long day. However, as a consequence of distance learning she must retreat to her room each day for school—a place of relaxation demoted to one of work.

“Working at home was really hard because that’s the place we used to go after a long day of school to relax, but now that’s just your life,” McCarthy said.

Students like McCarthy have struggled at home for a number of reasons including lack of motivation and in-person connections, as well as technology issues. Assistant Principal Jessica Busse said students struggle to find motivation in part because they don’t have a designated work area in their homes.

“I need to feel like I’m in my own workplace and have that disconnect of like at school, I do schoolwork and at home, I do home stuff,” Busse said. “That’s hard for kids to create, and also finding the motivation when you’re not constantly reminded of what homework is due, or what you should be working on.”

Along with some of her peers, senior Casey Hunter said she has struggled with keeping her grades up when she has little motivation to work.

“I’ve definitely had to work harder to maintain my grades,” Hunter said. “I did go on a streak of not having much motivation and they all kind of plummeted a little bit. Luckily, I found that motivation again (and) was able to get them back up, but it’s been like that for a few people too.”

Students have also struggled with gaining accessibility to internet, according to ninth grade counselor and Student Services department chair Barb Nelson. For some students, reliable internet is not always guaranteed at home.

“Many kids are living in apartment buildings where their internet is horrible. Even in my own house, I have five people on the internet on any day. I can be like in the middle of a call (and) it just goes out, so that’s definitely a big part of it,” Nelson said.

For students, the internet access was also a main factors in their grades due to the distractions that come along being online, according to Michelle Rennie, licensed marriage and family therapist. 

In an attempt to help students with faltering grades, Busse said she has taken multiple approaches to contact them, even going as far as showing up at their home.

“We’re trying all kinds of stuff. I’ve had kids in my office and I have had students that just need to come in and touch base, I call and text students and reach out on Instagram,” Busse said. “I’ve even gone so far as showing up on kids’ doorsteps to see what’s going on, so just anything that works, and it depends on the kid.”

One outlet offered to students has been the Oriole Study Nest, where students can join their classes while being in school surrounded by staff who can assist them. McCarthy, who has attended the Study Nest almost every day, said being in school eliminates the distractions that come with being at home.

“There are staff members checking in on you every once a while (making) sure you’re staying on track, and it’s just a different learning environment; my bed isn’t here so I can’t go take a nap and the kitchen isn’t here so I can’t go get food, I have to sit down and focus and I have peers here to encourage me to do the work,” McCarthy said.

Busse said out of all the strategies administration tried, she is most pleased by the Oriole Study Nest because it gives students a chance to control the space they learn in while getting all the assistance they need.

“It’s really given students the opportunity to create their own learning environment, which is really cool,” Busse said. “It’s something that I hope we can continue to do moving forward.”

According to Hunter, the Study Nest is beneficial not only because of the change in scenery but also because the school setting puts her in the appropriate headspace to do schoolwork.

While many students struggled this past semester, some actually improved their grades during distance learning, according to Nelson. She said many of those kids were those who struggled with the social aspect of school.

“(The students who succeeded) were probably a lot of those students who were distracted by what was going on in classes with peers, and also those kids that aren’t as comfortable socially in that environment of high school,” Nelson said. “So that environment (at home) where they can control and feel more comfortable doing that that’s been great for some of those kids that are like, ‘I can do this and I am able to manage things.’”

According to Rennie, many of the kids who excelled suffered from autism and other mental disabilities. She said distance learning served to their advantage as they had easier access to their teachers and were able to avoid some of the social barriers they faced in in-person learning.

“With online learning, they were able to communicate directly with their teachers. They are not being bullied as much, which had a direct impact on their learning,” Rennie said. “It’s important, looking at that population going forward (to see) what we can bring forward (after the pandemic).”

Busse said while many of the kids who are succeeding in distance learning do have trouble interacting with others in school, many kids are succeeding because they don’t have their peers to distract them. This is true for many students such as Manion, who said she gets her social interactions from sports, which allows her to focus on school while not feeling cooped up.

“When I’m at school and I’m around my friends, it can be kind of hard to focus, so when I’m at home I feel like there are less distractions, and with the breaks in between class I’m able to get more work done,” Manion said. “It’s also nice because I’m doing sports. I’m still able to see my friends so I still have that social aspect, but I’m just able to focus better.”

Both Manion and sophomore Henry Bendickson said their grades have held steady and they have had no struggles keeping up. According to Bendickson, he has seen his grades improve drastically as teachers have loosened up on due dates and workloads.

“I went from A’s and B’s to straight A’s,” Bendickson said. “I’ve got so much more time to study for tests. All the pressure has loosened, deadlines aren’t as strenuous.”

While everyone has experienced distance learning differently, many teachers and students are yearning to go back to in-person learning. According to Busse, she is looking forward to having students back in the building when hybrid learning starts Feb. 22.

“I can’t wait to have everybody back,” Busse said. “We just gotta do it safely, since we need everybody to be on board.”