Students spent the last week of School@Home participating in #CHSRealLife, an assignment that challenged students to complete at least three of the nine provided tasks and share their progression on social media with the hashtag.

Some of the assignments on the choice board include virtual apartment hunting, cooking a meal for the student’s family and setting the table. Among the suggested assignments, senior Jazmyn Jaramillo decided to draw, write a letter about her quarantine experience and clean her mother’s car.

“They were ones I thought were manageable and relatively easy,” Jaramillo said. “I drew a small doodle for practice, then I decided to test some gel pens I had bought recently. It’s a drawing of a goat skull, sword and grapes because I was reminiscing on freshman year and remembered a project I did. I was feeling nostalgic, and it inspired me.”

Because she could go at her own pace, Jaramillo said she had an easier time finishing assignments during School@Home.

“Some classes were similar to how they were at school, with some obvious limitations,” Jaramillo said. “Other classes were calmer and had less of a workload than normal, but still made sure students learned what we needed to. So for this last week, I wrote exactly what I was feeling in my letter and pulled out a sponge and the hose to help my mom and spend time with her.”

Senior Danielle Burns posted the assignments she chose to complete to her Instagram page, danielle_burns12.

“I’ve been playing piano for years, but my high school schedule has gotten so hectic I haven’t been able to play much as of late,” Burns said. “I pulled out some music and practiced for a while to get a good recording. I really enjoy being able to play, and it was nice to sit down at the piano again.”

Burns said the work for the last week of School@Home was a nice break from normal assignments.

“It took some pressure off because we still had a few finals to take that last week,” Burns said. “Next I wrote a letter to a healthcare worker. What they are doing right now is amazing, and it’s helping keep all of us safe; I thought it was important to let them know how appreciated they were for making such a big sacrifice. After I finished the first two, I had no idea what else to do and decided setting the table in the proper way would be something I could do fairly easily and that I could use in the future.”

School@Home lasted eight weeks. Burns said the program did not compare to being in person with teachers and peers.

“I feel like I might not be as confident in the things that we learned during school at home as opposed to the rest of the year,” Burns said. “It was put together well, and it was less work than normal which was nice because I usually could finish my classes before lunch. Although we had less work I missed having a teacher to answer my questions or having friends to work with, but I enjoyed being able to be creative in getting to choose and do my own assignments.”

Burns said although she hopes school will go back to normal in August, the time she has had to spend with her family has been invaluable.

“Family has always been very important to me, but it has become even more special during the quarantine,” Burns said. “I play two varsity spring sports and am involved in several other extracurriculars, so my time in the second semester is always stretched thin. Getting my school work done early and being able to eat together every night or go on walks to spend time together has shown me how thankful I am for the family I have.”