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WolfPACK Wednesday took flight on February 3rd! Students across the school experienced the first individualized instructional day, where the in-person and blended learning students were given the option to work from home or attend shortened class periods at the school, and online students were given more one-on-one instruction with their teachers via Zoom before and after the shortened classes.

Students across the school expressed their thoughts about how the day went and how they felt it would impact learning:

For me, as a senior and an in-person student, my day was spent going from nearly-empty classroom to nearly-empty classroom, finishing any unfinished work for each class. My biggest class had eight people in it, and my smallest was only me! It felt like I spent most of my day waiting for each class to end, rather than getting work done because of how short each class was. The emptiness of the halls kind of made it feel like 3/4ths the school was on a field trip, or something.

Gesiye Okoya, senior, described Independent Study as being “understandably overcrowded, and partially to my surprise, extremely noisy.” Others who attended agreed that it was pretty cramped and not the best place to get work done. Gesiye also added that “working at school increases my work ethic, so I really appreciate WolfPACK Wednesday.”

Thomas Gilmore, junior, said “All the classes have been small, so it’s a lot quieter and easier to work.” Others agreed, and also reported that they felt the extra one-on-one time was helpful, too.

Hope Anderson, senior, explained her thoughts: “I think a lot of students are going to find it useful to have this extra one on one time. I know some students have and will struggle with completing work at home and will have to think about changing courses to come to school to succeed. A lot of willpower and self-discipline will go into making this work.”

Similarly, online students felt that it was a bit of a relief. Izzie Corley, senior, said “I find that I have a lot of little moments in class where I’m doing absolutely nothing, and they add up over the week and waste a lot of time/energy. As someone who has very little of either, being able to just have a ‘work day’ is looking to be very beneficial! Plus, since I make decorations for the student council, independent study time can be used for that, that way I don’t have to stay after school as much.” When asked if she thought the extra one-on-one time was beneficial, junior Anna Dalrymple said “I got to rant, and I got a little help that I needed, so yes.”