By AJ Brooks
Harwood had over an eighty percent vaccination rate before the booster shot came out. Now that the booster shot is out, people who were fully vaccinated don't count as being vaccinated unless they've gotten the booster shot. Harwood now only has about a twenty percent vaccination rate, which resulted in a reinforcement on COVID-19 protocols at school.
Students now aren’t allowed to go to the bathroom in between classes, because students need to sign in and out of class for contact tracing. Teachers are more strict about staying in their seats and keeping at least three feet apart at all times. Students are also back to eating lunch in classrooms instead of in the cafeteria. Recess was even shortened so students aren’t close to the same people for too long.
“I get that it's to keep us safe, but I think instead of having us stay in the core group, each teacher should have people sign up to eat as a group and that's the lunch group that eats there. That way people can be with their friends,” said 8th grader Mia Leese. She also said that “going to the bathroom only during classes is irritating.”
“I don't like having to eat lunch in the classrooms and having 15 minutes or less of recess time. Most of my friends are in other classes and I never see them anymore. But, if that's what they have to do to keep the cases to a minimum and to be safe, then so be it,” said Jane Schaefer, 7th grader at Harwood.
Mrs. Born, the 8th grade English teacher at Harwood, said “I know that these protocols are made with the best of intentions to keep us safe, and I think we’ll only know over time if they are working. I don’t mind the new bathroom policy as much, and all of my students have been really great about being patient until it’s a good time in the lesson to head to the bathroom. Regarding lunch, it does make me a little anxious having everyone so close and crammed in without masks, but it is much more organized than the chaos of the cafeteria. Overall, I just really hope as few staff and students as possible get sick!”
So, if you want to go back to eating in classrooms, having longer recess, and being allowed to go to the bathroom between classes, get your booster shot!
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