The outliers

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.”