On Monday, October 11, WHS hosted our very first homecoming week in over a year! WHS students were encouraged to participate in dress-up days, find the W (hid by Dr. Pearson), create a class homecoming video, and design decorations for CLC class doors. These activities created a points system for classes to compete against one another, and for a chance to even compete against our very own teachers! Students were also encouraged, especially by peers, to attend the Homecoming Football game hosted at the WHS Stadium. At the game, the new homecoming queen, Genesis Sanders, was crowned by previous 2019 queen, Kaley Weist, and the Beavers took a win! After the game, students were able to attend a homecoming gathering in the courtyard, in which students abided by state COVID-19 guidelines. Homecoming this year was a blast and has created a sense of community in our schools.
Starting on Tuesday, October 19, students at WHS were required to take the SBAC based on certain career pathways (this mainly applies to Seniors). Each class had a certain testing day in which all members of the class were seated in the gym and received instruction from WHS counselors on how to test. Tuesday, the freshman tested, Wednesday, the juniors, and Thursday the seniors. Based on the requirements of the SBAC and the changes from pre-existing conditions, sophomores were not expected to test and will instead be taking the PSAT (Pre-SAT) on Tuesday, October 26. Many students finished testing during 2nd and 3rd period, however, students who needed more time to test were able to finish in the library. Some seniors, based on career pathways, were encouraged to test, however were not required to test based on if they were Cascadia Tech or Running Start and whether or not they are already or already have tested with other programs.
Students this year are expected to attend school regularly except for special exceptions, such as being on the medical exclusions list. This year, I unfortunately had to miss some school due to being medically excluded and I want to bring to light some things I noticed while doing online school. Online schooling is definitely not the same as being in the classroom. Being a hands-on person and wanting to participate in all of the conversations at school was hard for me. One of the many reasons I love school is the connections I establish with my peers and the ability to be able to learn with others together. For me, therefore, online schooling was hard, as I was not able to engage in those connections or be a part of conversations due to technology issues or simply not being present. However, I do want to note that the teachers I have at WHS are some of the most supportive people I have ever met. I was able to communicate with my teachers easily and catch up quickly in my classes due to the devotion of my teachers to me as a student and learner. My experience for sure is not going to be everyones’ experience, as all of us go through different things in life. However, it was really encouraging for me to know that I am supported by my teachers and they want to be sure I am getting the best learning experience possible. I want to thank my teachers and I want to acknowledge that they work hard to help students through being online.