Dance:

Some students chose to take part in the elective dance. Currently, several sports are struggling to keep up with their students’ physical activity but teachers and advisors are handling it very well by continuing activities through zoom calls and at home workouts. 

 “[The workload for online dance is] very minimal with only a few assignments each week.” Sophomore Sydney Locke said.

Online workouts are still good for the body, as it helps to keep students in shape over quarantine, but it is not the same without friends and peers.

 “I miss everyone so much and have less motivation,” Locke said. 

Elective classes are trying to support and provide things to do and in the case of dance classes, they appear to have adapted to this new learning style.

Photography:

Photography classes are continuing their weekly assignments digitally.

“We use Zoom to collaborate for our projects,” senior Kaitlyn Briggs said.

After taking their photos, students use Google Slides to critique each other’s work. Each weekly assignment has a theme as well. These themes give the students a specific aspect they have to focus on. In addition to critiquing each other’s photos, after all photos are submitted, there is a respective competition. At the conclusion of each week, a week winner is declared. 

“We take a photo that fits that week and then the class votes on which one is best,” Briggs said.

With distance learning, students can still collaborate in the photography classes and participate like normal to the best of their abilities. 

AP Art:

Before the distance learning protocol, students participating in Ms. Pappas’ art class would normally have the opportunity to work on their own projects during class. 

Once a month, Ms. Pappas’ would also hold workshops which allowed students to learn how to work with different materials, as well as critiques. 

Now that self-isolation has affected school’s across the globe, teachers need to get creative to keep up their classes online. To take attendance, Ms. Pappas typically puts questions on Google Classroom for the students to answer. These questions are usually just check-ins to see what projects students will be working on. She also directed students to follow the AP videos being posted by the college board. 

“It’s kind of tough to do AP art online,” junior Maycie Cereghino said. “ But I’ve actually enjoyed the amount of extra time I’ve had to work on my art and I find it really relaxing and stress relieving to work on something I enjoy.”

Sometimes, a relaxing school elective is just what students need during the surrealness of the virus. 

Band:

Band is another elective that is greatly affected by the school closures. The students in band struggle with online learning. Being able to play in person with other members of the band is a very important aspect of their practices. 

The students are expected to practice their music every week and turn in a google sheet on Google Classroom that proves that they did their work. They also have one graded assignment, which was due after spring break. The grading is based on their performance in the videos and on turning their assignment in on time. Even though there is some structure in the class’s routine, it is still much harder for the students to perform.

“It’s pretty hard [to perform] considering you have to record yourself playing,” freshman Matthew Bridges said.

Band will be another class that will have to continue to adjust in this period of learning and change. The students, too, will have to try to participate and practice similarly to how they used to and become comfortable with the new way that the class works.

Graphic >> Sierra Smith >> The Lancer