Coming into this school year, a lot of uncertainly was in the air about how schools would handle COVID-19. Mount Carmel decided to go back to in-person schooling full time.

However, the school administration gave students the option of learning remotely. According to Principal Scott Tabernacki, about 90 students decided to do so for the first trimester. The e-learners were expected to log into class at the same time as the students in school, which kept everyone in the class on track.

One concern of both parents and students was whether the e-learners would be included in classroom activities. The answer to their worries was quickly found. Students were able to be a part of the class through either Zoom or Google Meet. Teachers made an effort to involve the remote learners by having them answer questions.

Senior Daniel Favela appreciated the option of remote learning.

“I enjoy the fact that I still feel in school. E-learning isn’t that much different to regular school.”

Some activities and sports also remained available to e-learners. While there were concerns that if students chose e-learning, they wouldn’t be allowed to participate in sports and other clubs. that was not the case.

That helped Favela make his decision to go remote.

“It was a big part of my decision, I always planned on going to school just so I could play soccer this year. However, once I found out I could still play and do e-Learning it was a done deal for me.”

Teachers had to adjust, but so did the students. With having so much going on in a classroom now, there were some doubts about how smoothly the classrooms would be ran. With college coming up for seniors, and other grade levels wanting to do well in school, many like senior Robert Bowman, worried about how much they would be able to learn.

“I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to learn all the things I needed before college, but my worries were quickly put to doubt after the first couple of weeks.”

Mount Carmel seems to have done a good job handling having both online and in school students. This is because of both teachers’ and students’ willingness to adapt.

With Trimester 2 beginning on November 19, some students have opted to return to in-person classes, while others will opt for e-learning during the winter.