Last March, we all left school for a six-week quarantine. Since then, it has been a year full of history as we have faced some of the most challenging moments of our lifetime. But through this past year we have learned and adapted, and with that our habits. To recognize the ‘anniversary’ of a year in quarantine, here are the ways that students and teachers have been impacted this school year.

March of 2020 brought the term “March Madness” to a whole new meaning. The stock market crashed, stores were running out of supplies like toilet paper, events were being postponed, and schools had become extra cautious about preventing the spread of bacteria. We found out that school was going to be on break for 6 weeks, and we left believing that school would resume after that time.

At the beginning of last April, the Snohomish School District decided to keep schools online for the rest of the year. Many were disappointed by this news- especially seniors. “Honestly, I lost a lot of hope that school was going to get better,” Kayli Korshaven said. Even though this seemed to be changing for the worse, we knew that at some point quarantine would be over and we could go back to a semi-normal way of life.

During quarantine, masks and electronics became essential parts of everyday life for students. Shopping, watching movies, and talking to friends all became digital as we spent our time inside. When asked about their experiences this year, an anonymous student wrote, “My life changed so much during quarantine. My friends, hobbies, and school are different than they were last year.”

Now, only weeks after the one-year ‘anniversary’ of being out of the classroom, Glacier Peak is starting a hybrid system to get students back into school. Students will still continue to wear masks and social distance, but it is still a large change that many will have to adjust to. “While we’re physically apart, we’re not emotionally apart,” said Mr. Larson during the back-to-school webinar.

This year has been extremely challenging and full of changes. Students have struggled, adapted, and persevered as the world changed around them. Now that the one-year mark of lockdown has passed and school is reopening, we can look back at the crazy year we have experienced and hope for more positivity to come.