In Huntley High school students had to partake in a new and virgin learning environment of online learning. Students have been asked to stay home and attend classes via Zoom and it has been quite an adjustment. Although, some start to ask important questions around the community. 

Is e-learning effective? Is it worth it to keep the school closed? Many people have brought up these concerns over the course of e-learning and even hybrid learning, and a lot of these questions and concerns are quite valid. 

Maverick Dehmlow, is a student at the high school who prefers hybrid over fully opening.

“I like hybrid because I can go to school for a couple of days and get plenty of free time for the rest of the days. Hybrid learning has also made assignments easier in my opinion,” Dehmlow said.    

A lot of students may actually enjoy the fact that they do not have to go to school every single day, and enjoy the more leisurely pace of hybrid learning and other benefits hybrid learning offers to the students.

There is also the argument that opening up the school too early could expose students and staff to COVID-19, with two cases being confirmed via email on Feb. 22. This is also one of the strongest reasons to keep our school closed for the remainder of the year. 

Kyra Nelson, a senior,  prefers to be fully open in a hybrid environment. 

“I would like for the school to open up fully so that students and teachers could once again feel surrounded by community. As of now, there are small amounts of students and classes, and an increase in students would help people feel connected to one another,” Nelson said.

This is most likely the biggest argument for opening the school up, isolation is not healthy. Teens and young adults attending social events are critical towards their mental, emotional, and even physical health. It would be healthy for students to go back and be able to socialize with teachers and their peers.

There is also the argument that since the Pfizer vaccine has been distributed to the state, infectivity has gone down a considerable amount with daily cases going from 15,000 a day in November to 1,700 in February, which is a major improvement compared to previous months. 

The light is at the end of the tunnel, but unfortunately, that does not mean the virus will go away even once vaccinations are fully given out to the public. Hybrid at this moment in time is most likely the safest option to continue to keep COVID-19 numbers on the decline.