Click here if unable to see interactive website above.

Life as an American teenager has changed exceedingly over the past year, from attending school physically to adapting to a whole new online learning experience. Life is anything but normal right now, whether it’s online or hybrid. Most schools are still doing online distance education, but some states have moved on to hybrid in-school learning.

Kingswood Regional High School in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire has recently just opened for hybrid learning. According to the Kingswood website, students are required each day to perform a daily checklist before leaving school: checking their temperature, wearing a clean mask, making sure to bring all necessary supplies and bringing their own water since fountains are turned off.  

When the students were asked about going to hybrid learning, some responses were negative.

“I don’t like it. We only go to school two days and if we miss one day we are screwed,” Kingswood Regional sophomore Ella Roden said.

The students have also seen that it is much harder to be able to connect and get help from their teachers as they are only going two days a week. 

“I absolutely hate it. I have such a difficult time learning; when I can’t discuss things with a teacher in person some stuff just doesn’t make sense. If I were to be going to school at least four days a week my stress about school wouldn’t be nearly as high. The teachers are trying their best, but their best right now isn’t enough to really help me,” Kingswood Regional sophomore Natalie Marcoullier said.

While there is some negative feedback, some students responded positively that are used to show how useful the hybrid model is. 

“It’s not as bad as I thought it was gonna be. I thought it would be unorganized and all over the place but they actually did a good job figuring everything out,” Kingswood Regional sophomore Caroline Shannon said.

According to the News in New Hampshire website, about a handful of schools have been transitioning to the hybrid model, but many schools are open. When a senior was asked about this hybrid model, the response was quite positive.  

“It’s not bad at all, I enjoy it,” Kingswood Regional senior Bailey Savage said. 

Oak Park may adjust to a hybrid model beginning in January if Ventura County cases fall to the red tier. The cases in Ventura County are currently 23,897 for a population of 846,006. In Carroll County, New Hampshire, Kingswood was able to go back because they have only 263 confirmed cases for a population of 48,779. The safety protocols in New Hampshire are the same as in Ventura County. Masks must be worn at all times either in stores, restaurants or any public place. The stores here have been very stringent on these protocols in order for them to be effective and keep the numbers down. 

Although there are students who dislike this new way of school, there are schools like Oak Park that have a plan to go to the hybrid model. The insight that was given from Kingswood can show the pros and cons to the hybrid model, and give Oak Park an idea of how it would work.