This week we had to say an official “Goodbye” to the school building for the 2019-2020 school year. My son’s principal sent an email message that we
could come up this week to get any of his work and books and materials left in
the classroom.
I made an appointment that fit into my online working
schedule, but as I later found out it would be during one of his scheduled
online classes. At first, he seemed unhappy about not being able to come with
me, but then later on he seemed okay with it.
When I drove over to the school, the first thing that
struck me was how easy it was to park. It is never easy to park in the streets
near that building, but today I had my choice of where to park right across
from the building.
Putting on my virus gear of face mask, gloves, and
sunglasses, I got out of the car, ran up the steps, and rang the bell. Once
inside, everything was dark, with only patches of light from the open classroom
doors illuminating the hallways.
I signed in at the office and then went upstairs to my
son’s classroom. The walls in the hallways were totally bare, and usually
during the school year the walls are filled with blazing colors and examples of
the students’ projects, work, and art.
As I walked down the hallways, the heft of the silence
weighed upon me – making me think that school is not supposed to be like this. A
school should be filled with happy and noisy kids. The building must be
grieving the premature loss of the children – it’s going to be a long, lonely
summer for it.
I went into his classroom and noticed the teacher’s
beautiful decorations hanging in eerie silence. The students’ work was piled upon
their desks. I went to my son’s desk and collected his art work and other
materials. I looked up and noticed the daily classroom calendar stopped on
March 12 – his last day of school because of the coronavirus.
I kept thinking about all those days between then and now,
and what would have happened in that classroom if there had never been a virus
that stopped the world – all the interactions, the conversations, and the
hands-on experiences that have now been declared forbidden in this hands-off
world.
As I left the building, I looked back one last time, and
it was the saddest sight ever. A school building with no students is sadder than
a Christmas tree put out on the curb in January.
When I got home, I gave him his materials and he smiled
when he remembered a project he did or a piece of art that he enjoyed making.
For a moment he seemed lighthearted, but then he looked at the clock and had to
get ready for his next online class.
While working in their Google classrooms or Zoom
meetings, students of all ages have had to adjust to the online world in ways
they never expected. They see their friends’ faces in brief glimpses, as their
teachers do their best to adapt their lesson plans to online instruction.
For my kids, this online learning has been going on since
March 16 – so we are past the two-month mark here. I am pleased to say that they
have adapted pretty well, despite a glitch here and a link that won’t open
there. This is new territory, so it seems like the teachers know that sometimes
things won’t work, and everyone will have to go with the flow.
Yet this is not schooling – it is a semblance of
schooling. People are talking about what will happen in the fall, and some say that we will go back to the building and others think we will not. All I know is
that if we can’t go back to a normal school routine, schooling as we used to know
it will be over.
Yes, we will have to deal with it, but there are going to
be many empty school buildings, and students’ worlds will be inextricably
altered. Will they learn? Probably. Will the quality of the education be the
same? Probably not.
They may get all the information they require and be able
to pass their tests and move up to the next grade level, but that personal interaction
will be gone. The way teachers get to know students will be much different, and
the continued burden on parents who have to work will be incalculable.
So, this week we said “Goodbye” to the school building
for this school year. I am just hoping it’s not goodbye for forever.
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