School 2020 | Young Writers Project

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Well, it’s here – school’s back. Write about your experience as the pandemic continues. Compare this year to other “normal” years. What has changed or remains the same as last spring? [Photo credit: Cody Pavlovic, YWP Media Library]

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Responses to this Challenge

Oct 22

nonfiction challenge: School 2020

MaryAliceVeracka

The Pandemic

Mary Veracka

My experience with the pandemic was not horrible. I didn't mind quarantining with online schooling. I got to be around my family more. Even though I couldn't see my friends and couldn't go out places, we made the best out of it. I had my phone so I could always call or text my friends. I got to hang out with my sisters and parents more. Having phones was a blessing during this time because without our phones I never could have talked to my friends.

Posted: 10.22.20

Sep 20

poem challenge: School 2020

Shisi Dai

Welcome back!

Welcome,
For being healthy and bringing hope.
Welcome,
For being patient and respecting rules.
Welcome,
For being positive and trusting the school.
We had gotten tired of the coming here,
But we are now ecstatic to have the opportunity to be there.

Instead of the remote learning,
We can physically step into the classroom.
A beam of light sweep over us by the window from morning to noon,
My friends say they will get back soon.

Six feet, Six feet.
We stay apart but we are close in heart.
Masks, Masks.
Our own safety has been worn,
So nobody is lorn.

Hey guys,
This is TA.
Pay attention to your health.
And have a nice year!

Posted: 09.20.20

Sep 12

poem challenge: School 2020

Crescent_Moon

First Day

Last year my first day of school
was a day earlier
than everybody else's
because of stupid freshmen orientation

Teachers lined the walls of the gym
and cheered as we walked through the doors
they ushered us to the bleachers
where we had to sit all squished together
while the principal gave a speech
about the joys of high school

A group of overly enthusiastic upperclassmen
gave us the grand tour
and then made us sit in a circle
like kindergartners
and play icebreaker games

This year my first day of school
was two days later
than half of the school's
and there was no freshmen orientation
for the class of 2024

The principal stood outside
directing us toward the drop off area
with a dramatic flourish

I pulled up my mask
and rolled down the car window
so a teacher could reach in and make sure
my temperature was below 100.3

Posted: 09.12.20

Sep 11

poem challenge: School 2020

TreePupWriter

Back again

It's all the same.

The decorated paper leaves from last year are still full of
photos of our maskless faces.

You still pull the orange lever for
the emergency eyewash fountain in science.

The we the future posters still adorn the walls, though,
then we didn't know –
had no clue at all –
what our future would be.

The board in Spanish class is still dated to
Lunes, el 16 de marzo
(but the 17th was really
too surreal to be dated.)

The weekly calendar in ELA still says,
NO SCHOOL on
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday in
neat dry erase marker
(but if there'd been space, you really
could dry out that marker writing out
all the days we
weren't there.)

Somewhere, somehow, time realized we
couldn't keep up, so it stopped,
froze,
waited patiently, continuing with only the hope that
we'd be back someday.

Posted: 09.11.20

Sep 10

nonfiction challenge: School 2020

NiñaEstrella

Rules for the 2020 middle schooler

1. It doesn't matter what mask you're wearing. But... WEAR ONE.
2. When inside, hand sanitizer is god. Worship it.
3. When outside, it's perfectly normal to be about two feet apart. With no mask on. (Hey, there's fresh air, right?)
4. It's no longer rude to surreptitiously scoot away from someone who's too close for comfort (or just someone you don't like... but keep it surreptitious.)
5. Your teachers will continually comment on how new everything is for them. This is another way of saying please be nice to us, we're surviving on coffee alone. (But also, yay teachers. Thanks guys.)
6. You can't whisper in class anymore, because no one can tell you're whispering. It's easy to forget that the most expressive part of your face is hidden, so be prepared to ask and be asked "what??" about 15 times a day.
7. It's actually pretty easy to tell if someone is smiling, but you never know. Be nice.

Posted: 09.10.20

Sep 10

essay challenge: School 2020

molly.sargent

School in a pandemic

Yesterday I started school, remotely. It was different having to go online and not be in school seeing everybody. I'm used to walking in seeing all my old teachers, new teachers and my friends.
This year is going to be much different.
When we were in school we were having all of our class discussions and being in contact with everybody. But remotely we're just on our computer all the time having to read or do all of our work in a Google classroom and it is just very odd compared to being in school.
I wish Corona was not happening because being in school is so much better than being on the computer all the time:)

Posted: 09.10.20

Sep 10

essay challenge: School 2020

Moonsand

Remote Learning

School is coming and everyone is suddenly busy. Wrap up the summer homework, stroll through Target’s Back To School section and check the school roster. Summer is gone, along with the lazy mornings and late wake-up times. You can hear the thud as an alarm clock is placed on your bedside table and papers flipped as syllabus’ are read over. When you wake up in the morning, you linger around lazily, still in the summer state of mind, and slowly get ready for school. You get in the car and, when you get to school, you see your friends. You laugh and chat about idle subjects, and slowly adjust as you ease into the school state of mind. This is the routine of a normal school starting.

Posted: 09.10.20

Sep 09

poem challenge: School 2020

gdubuque

back to school

now it's back to school in a berand new way
only gonna be there for two days
its gonna be different,not the same
I think hybrids got some game

For three days, we'll be at home
Doing schoolwork through the phone
That's not how this world should be
Missing out on everything

When did this world, ever show
Any signs of yes or no
It's never been this or that
It's always been mismatched

Now its back to school
with a brand new look
Every day
With so much books

It's to the highschool
where I'm going
Homework alway
overflowing

Taking your time
is what you need
To stay on top
of everything

So just breathe in
and then breathe out,
cause in the end
it will all work out

Posted: 09.09.20

Sep 05

poem challenge: School 2020

ZoeBee

Off

It just felt off
Like freezing broth
Or clothes that just don't fit quite right
Flashes in the dead of night
Like wearing a corpse's underthings
A box of widows' wedding rings
A whale that beached itself to die
A strangely troubled baby's cry
It may be dark, but I have a hunch
Conformation is waiting to make me its lunch

Posted: 09.05.20

Sep 01

poem, fiction, rant challenge: School 2020

ZoeBee

The hands of time

I've seen the hands of time. Wisend gnarled old fingers, long and slender, in shades of murky grey. The hands grope around the edges of my nightmares, prod the clay of my subconscious, shatter the frames of my memory. The hands of time hold, held, will hold, my brain in its palm. I've become it's plaything. Days blend into nights, seconds turn to hours in the blink of an eon. The hangs do not know why they hold me, that much I can tell. Perhaps they were lonley, stuck in the maze of space all alone. Maybe they're malicious, peeling back the scabs of old wounds ever so tenderly, and pouring centuries of contemplation into foaming brine. I will not know until they release me, whenever that is. For now I'm stuck, staring at the hands of time.

Posted: 09.01.20

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