Students, staff share thoughts, experiences during COVID-19 pandemic

“For graduation I’ll be at the school around 10:30, walk in and return my school supplies, receive cords and awards, give a quick speech into a camera thanking my family and teachers and then walk across the stage,” senior Erin Bell said. “I plan on attending the ceremony on May 22 by watching it with my family. I’ll probably be in pj's. The biggest plans I had that have been affected wer...

“COVID-19 hasn't affected my life too much, except for messing up my senior year,” senior Jacob Douglas said. “I still go to work and do most of the things I did before the pandemic. I'm sad I couldn't finish out the year with my friends, though. I wanted to say goodbye. I was looking forward to walking the stage and having all of the experiences that come with graduating, but it's okay. After...

"My dad is in the medical field, and it’s scary thinking he could be infected with this and possibly bring it back home," sophomore Mikah Anstey said. "My uncle goes to radiation at the hospital and his immune system already isn’t the best because of the radiation so there’s always the chance he could get it. I wouldn't want to lose anyone I know and love to this virus.  Having a parent in ...

"I have five other siblings, so when we were told that school was moving online and that we were going to have to be at home a lot, it was stressful," junior Emma Wilcox said. "My mom, my siblings, and I had to figure out how to manage this new way of living for a while and honestly it was really tough, but I think we are finally getting into the groove of the whole work from home thing. I am a so...

"Since we can’t go anywhere I’ve just been trying to find things to do," senior Ally DeLong said. "I really love to do hair and makeup, so I thought it would be fun to try different looks. I tend to go towards more colorful/fun looks. It just kind of depends on my mood. I was just looking on Pinterest and saw all these fun pictures everyone was doing, so I really wanted to try some out for myse...

“I am a checker and a sacker at United,” junior Karsytn Salazar said. “Checking is scanning food, taking cash, cards, and checks and being the main focus of the customer. Sacking is taking items and putting them in either plastic, paper or recyclable bags. Sacking tends to be the more fast-paced of the two jobs, because you are constantly in and out of the store. Since we’re out of school,...

"During this time, I have been using my passion to keep me creative," sophomore Tayvea Garcia said. "I have always been the type to explain my emotions or thoughts through writing instead of verbal communication. I have been reading and getting more creative in my thinking, and I’ve been working on writing a book. It’s basically just a coming of age story on how these two kids have longed for ...

"It’s very nerve racking to have my mom working at the hospital," junior Macie Mullin said. "Sure the hospital has precautions to take with the virus, but you can never be too careful with this kind of thing. She has more than likely come across a patient with corona which is extremely frightening."  "My biggest challenge through all this has been finding ways to entertain myself while being inside. I d...

“It’s [COVID-19] robbing us of our senior year,” senior Madelyn Permberton said. “Second semester is supposed to be fun. Because of the school being shut down, we’re missing out on our senior prank, senior skip day, prom and so many little moments in between. The way things are looking right now, that Friday before spring break was probably our last day of high school, and we didn’t ev...

“I was preparing for three UIL events, but because of worries about the coronavirus, UIL decided to postpone events,” sophomore Cameron Renner said. “I was going to do competitions in number sense and math, which are tests dealing with math skills. I was district champion for number sense last year, so I was really hoping to see how I’d improve." "I also play golf, but since it is a summer ...

"I think it's important for us to stay connected with our students because it’s important for our students to know we still care," math teacher Lindsay Mayhew said. "They want to know you're invested. That's important for us to demonstrate, and that's a whole lot harder to do online. I definitely think the district is doing what they think is best for the safety of the school district and for their...

“My birthday was March 21, the Saturday after spring break,” junior Kat Clark said. “I wanted to go out to eat with my boyfriend at my favorite restaurant, maybe go see a movie, then take my best friend shopping with my birthday money. When I came home I was going to have dinner with my family and eat the apple pie my mom always makes for my birthday. Instead, I had to change my plans becaus...

“I was one of the few able to finish my show season at Houston moments before it closed down,” senior Lucas Bradshaw said. “We were hanging out until we heard the news the show was being forced by the city to close. The rest of the day was a scramble; no one could come on to the grounds from the outside, and they were encouraging everyone to leave. We were forced to show a day earlier, and in a...