By Ashley J. Pegues
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Photo provided by Cynthia Cromartie. Used with permission.
After a year of virtual learning, many students like Alexandria, Virginia, resident Xavier Puller find themselves returning to a not-so-normal school environment in the middle of the school year amid a pandemic.
“I felt great,” Puller said. “I was actually excited about going back to school.”
Puller would have never thought he would spend half of his junior year of high school behind a computer.
“I wasn’t okay transitioning fully online because I can’t really learn behind a computer screen,” he said. “It was a struggle because I needed that one-on-one help with the teachers.”
Returning to school was a sense of normalcy for Puller and Sandra Gasaway, the sophomore and junior administrator at Surrattsville High School.
“It felt like the first day of school,” Gasaway said. “Since I haven’t seen most of my colleagues in almost a year, I just wanted to go hug everyone and say good to see you.”
With school back in session, Puller now adheres to the T.C. Williams High School’s hybrid learning model. He attends in-person learning Tuesdays and Thursdays and online learning Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
“It’s going to be pretty easy to get acclimated back to school,” he said.
Puller feels safe returning to school with new procedures and safety protocols.
“With the desk farther apart, fewer students in the class, and wearing a mask on at all times, I feel the school is safe,” he said.
His mother, Harriet Puller, was okay with her children returning to in-person learning.
Photo provided by Cynthia Cromartie. Used with permission.
She believes that the school’s constant communication with parents is one of the main reasons she was okay with her children returning to school.
“Every day, if it’s not from the CEO, it’s from the principal getting a text about what’s going on, and I like that,” Harriet Puller said.
As a mother, she wants to make sure that her children and other children are safe and getting a good education.
“You know you set your ground rules and hope that they stay safe,” she said.
While Harriet Puller continues to worry about her children’s safety, she has to also make sure that she is safe at her workplace.
As the Secretary of the Guidance Department at Surrattsville High School, Harriet Puller continues to take precautions to protect herself.
“Every day, I always wipe down the door handles and my desk,” she said.
For any essential worker, health and safety is the primary concern they always take into consideration.
Gasaway’s main priority as an administrator is keeping the students and staff safe at all times. By being on the linguistic committee, she and her team have been planning and providing safety stipulations for them to abide by.
“We’ve been planning,” she said. “It is a matter of being safe. We have to make sure that we keep our mask on and make sure we’re six feet apart at all times.”
She feels confident that students will remain safe once school is in session.
Though it might seem things are getting back to normal, many rising seniors hope that they can enjoy the year that they have always been waiting for, their senior year.
As Xavier Puller transitions to his senior year of high school, he hopes that he does not have to graduate through a computer.
“I really want to attend classes and graduate in-person my senior year,” he said.