They won't back down: PHS seniors emerge from unusual school year with head start on adapting

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May 15—Palestine High School's senior class will cross the stage in a traditional graduation ceremony next Friday, but this year has been far from traditional for this group of kids in what feels like an unusually unstable landscape.

After an abrupt end to the 2020 school year due to COVID, everyone seemed to hold their collective breath and hope for a return to normal. At Palestine High School, kids adapted to more online learning and flexible schedules as well as safety protocols to try and keep the school year as normal as possible.

"It has been a challenge. It has been tough on everyone," said Dr. William Stewart, PHS principal. "They have gone through a lot. They have persevered."

The students finished last year picking up packets of assignments from newspaper stands and turning them in without any time in the classroom, to this fall beginning with staggered schedules and smaller capacities.

"I think the biggest challenge we've had in the school is just building those relationships with students," Stewart said. "It is hard for students to build a relationship with a teacher, and vice versa, when you have a mask on. It's just not the same."

"They just did what they had to," he said. "Our students have matured extremely fast."

Stewart said when school shut down, many of the students went to work.

"They went to work and when they went to work they didn't stop."

A large portion of the students are now going to school for eight hours a day and then leaving to go to work. Some are even working full-time jobs.

"The other side of that is I don't think we have seen the best of them as students," he said.

The group has had an uphill battle for getting back into the regular rhythm of class.

Senior Rose Freeman said the academic hurdle for her came with the staggered schedules that students were on at the beginning of the year. Assignments had to fit with due dates to accommodate those schedules.

"This made it difficult to put forth the best work on all the assignments," she said. "But with the right time management skills and effort it was possible."

"The majority have been resilient through this change," said Carolina Dominguez, Spanish department chair and teacher. "They adapted to the changes and have overcome the challenges that they encounter. Many did not complain or give up, but continued to strive for their goals."

In a year with so much uncertainty, students were forced to adapt to various settings and hybrid versions of their classes.

"I honestly think that if COVID affected me in any way academically, it's been positively," said senior Katie Wheat. "COVID and working online has allowed me to work at my own pace and for teachers to be a lot more flexible with deadlines."

Outside of the classroom, student activities were also at the mercy of safety protocols. Creative solutions for athletes and activities were needed. Some treasured school traditions had to go by the way side to keep people healthy and in school.

"I definitely thought that my senior year would be a lot more activity filled, specifically during football season," Wheat said. "I never dreamed that I would be wearing masks for almost the entirety of my senior year."

Wheat helped out as a trainer for the football team and up until just over a week ago, students were in masks every school day.

Senior Sarai Trejo said she felt the same about hindered activities.

"We didn't get all the activities that previous senior classes did, which is what I was most excited about," she said. "For example, we only had one pep rally this year compared to having a pep rally every home game we had. It was sad, but when we got to have our homecoming pep rally it was fun to get to experience that one last time."

Trejo, who plans to attend Tyler Junior College to pursue an associates degree in sonography, said she felt that teachers went out of their way to understand what students were going through and tried to make things easier.

"I do believe that if the students take this situation and see it as a personal growing experience, it will help them overcome future obstacles when moving forward," Dominguez said.

Senior Michael Chaidez ran cross country, track and played soccer.

Chaidez contracted COVID during the cross country season.

"When I came back after two weeks of having it, I wasn't in my best shape, which affected me and my team," he said.

He went on to earn the district's best defensive player award for his senior soccer season.

"During our soccer season, we had to we our masks during away games on the bus and even spray the benches with disinfecting spray before sitting down to prevent the spread of COVID," Trejo said. "Overall, our coach helped us get better with the short time we had of training."

Facing the future has an unusual feel as well.

"Things don't feel normal to me because I've never seen so much chaos in the world," Trejo said. "I feel like this generation has made society into something it shouldn't be as. Hopefully things will change and the world will become a happier place."

Overall they seem pleased that the masks are no longer required, with some sense of normalcy.

"Fortunately, before the mask mandate was taken away I was able to get vaccinated," Freeman said. "Because of this I feel very comfortable not wearing a mask."

"At first I was a little wary about no masks in school," Chaidez said. "But once I noticed that there weren't many outbreaks of coronavirus, I knew it wouldn't be so bad."

Stewart said because of the adversity they have overcome, they will ultimately be better prepared for the future. "I think it builds a lot of character. You learn to overcome adversity," he said.

He said the school strives to teach kids how to adapt and overcome whether it is in the classroom, on the ball field or through fine arts, but this was a lesson at a different level.

"COVID has done that more so than any of those things," he said. "I could go on and on, the things that the kids have had to overcome just to be here and be successful."

The 2021 graduating class has just under 200 students expected to graduate at 8 p.m. next Friday in Wildcat Stadium. The seating will be staggered and each student is allowed eight tickets for family members on the home side of the field. Other guests will not require a ticket to sit on the visitors side of the field.