OPINION: Open Letter - Give Us a Break

 by Kaylie Kirkham, junior

An Open Letter to the NASD School Board

I moved to the Nazareth Area School District at the start of my 8th grade year. Previous to that, I had lived in Houston, Texas for 12 years. Obviously, there were a lot of differences between my old school district and NASD, but the most noticeable difference for me was the short holiday breaks. I grew up getting 5 school days off for both Thanksgiving and Spring Break, as well as 10 or more school days off for Christmas Break. I was shocked at the meager long weekend Fall/Spring breaks and one week Christmas break that NASD provided.

This year, the 2021-2022 school calendar for NASD consisted of three Holiday Breaks: 5 days at Thanksgiving, 10 days at Christmas, and 4 days at Easter (all of which include weekends). In actuality, 8 of those “days off” are on Saturday/Sunday, which we would already have off of school. The School Board simply isn’t giving students enough time off to destress from school.

School is very taxing on students. We have to get up early to attend classes and stay up late to finish our mounds of homework due the following day. Not to mention the extra hours of studying for and stressing over tests. KidsHealth conducted a survey of students and their stress levels during the school year. The results of the study reported that 32% of students attribute high stress levels to school work issues and 30% attribute high stress levels to the social pressures of school (Bratsis). All of this stress compounds over time and it can have both physical and mental effects. Cynthia M Thaik, a Harvard trained physician, said on Psychology Today, “Stress that continues without relief can lead to… physical symptoms including headaches, upset stomach, elevated blood pressure, chest pain, and problems sleeping” (Thaik). Students need to be given the opportunity to take time for themselves and to destress. I have personally felt some of these physical effects caused by stress and I know others do as well. We need a break during the Fall, Winter, and Spring to keep us healthy.

As I mentioned before, I have attended schools where we got longer breaks. I always looked forward to spending two weeks off with nothing but time for me, something I never get during the school year. I had no homework pressing my mind if I tried to relax, no test anxiety keeping me up late at night, and no alarm dragging me out of much needed sleep at 6am. Statistics prove that living a life of constant stress and anxiety can be dangerous for students' mental health. Michael Agnew, Heather Poole, and Ayesha Khan, researchers for Canadian Universities, headed a project on the perception of students who were granted a fall break. They reported that at Candian Universities without a fall break, “60% of [students] had felt hopeless, 90% felt overwhelmed, 88% felt exhausted, 65% felt overwhelming anxiety, and 13% had considered suicide.” The observed students attribute the cause of these emotions to “stress, anxiety, sleep difficulties, and depression” (Agnew, Poole, and Khan). Agnew, Poole, and Khan went on to study Canadian Universities who did have time off for the Thanksgiving Holidays and found that students perceived it as “a meaningful reprieve from their academic commitments.” Other students used the break as “an essential opportunity to attend to their emotional and mental well-being,” and even more as “a window…to recover from significant sleep deprivation and physical illness” (Agnew, Poole, and Khan). The students with a fall break felt that they were able to step out of the constant merry-go-round of stress for a few much needed days of rest. It gave them the time to refresh and refocus themselves.

Another common use of time off school is going on a family vacation. This is an especially popular activity during the holidays. It is now January, and the students of NASD have just returned to school from Christmas break, which began on December 24: Christmas Eve. School went right up to holiday, making it impossible for students to travel without missing school. Statistically speaking, this affects a significant number of students. Muntean and Wallace, writers for CNN, reported in an article that “AAA estimates more than 109 million Americans will travel over the long Christmas and New Year's week” (Muntean and Wallace). That is approximately ⅓ of the nation. Although Christmas is a popular time to travel, the single busiest travel day of 2021 was actually during the Thanksgiving holidays. Muntean and Wallace recount that “The Transportation Security Administration reported screening 2,451,300 people on November 28” (Muntean and Wallace). Both NASD’s Fall and Winter breaks went right up to the actual holiday, forcing students to either skip school or forgo the vacation. If the School Board would give us just 3 or 4 more days off, students would be able to travel for the holidays without having to worry about making up missed assignments.

Some people might claim that shorter holiday breaks still give students a chance to rejuvenate as long teachers are not allowed to assign homework. This statement would be true, if it were followed. I had several teachers assign work that was due the second day back to school so the students technically wouldn’t have to do it over it break. This either forced the students to do school work over break, or just push it off and have a very stressful first day back trying to finish a bunch of backed up homework. School officials in Princeton, NJ agree that breaks should give students “time to rest and recover from the stresses of school, as well as pursue interests outside the classroom” (Suresh and Cole).

This is hard to do with homework pressing down on our minds, but not everyone agrees that teachers should refrain from assigning homework over holiday breaks. One such person, Hansa Suresh, a student voice for Scholastic Magazine, explained, “We should get homework during breaks because…without homework, we might forget a lot of what we've learned in class by the time the break is over” (Suresh and Cole). Many teachers echo this statement, fearing that the students will forget what they have learned over a long break. If they feel the need to assign us work, then students should have adequate time off to complete both school assignments AND personal pursuits. A full two weeks at Christmas would give students plenty of time to do both.

Others might claim that lengthening the holiday breaks would shorten the summer. NASD usually gets out the first week of June and begins the next school year in late August or early September. If the School Board took just 2 weeks from summer vacation, (one for Christmas, the other to be split between Fall and Spring), students would receive adequate time off. No one would even notice the missing week or two during the long summer, but it would make it all the difference to students in January when they are tired, discouraged, and worn out.

Please, NASD School Board, consider the health of Nazareth students. We put everything we have into our school work, and we deserve time off. It isn’t fair to ask us to keep pushing past what we are capable of carrying. I am not the only one who believes this. A team of researchers from Stanford University and the Center for Wellness and Achievement in Education conducted a study on the effects of stress management techniques on students. The study reported that American teens experience stress levels that exceed what is considered acceptable. The students reported a “5.8 versus 3.9 on a 10-point scale” for stress levels (Valosek et. al.). Long holiday breaks would reduce that stress rating significantly for many students. We won’t miss that lost week in August, but we wouldn’t be able to thank you enough for that extra week in January. Please consider giving the students the time they need to care for their mental and physical health.

Sincerely,
    NAHS Junior, Kaylie Kirkham

Works Cited

Agnew, Michael, Heather Poole, and Ayesha Khan. “Fall Break Fallout: Exploring Student Perceptions of the Impact of Autumn Break on Stress.” Student Success Journal, Vol. 10(3), 2019, p.45-54. Gale in Context: High School, go.gale.com.

Bratsis, Michael E. “Health Wise.” The Science Teacher, Vol. 79, Issue 9, Nation Science Teachers Association, Dec. 2021, p.74, Gale in Context: High School, go.gale.com.

Muntean, Peter and Gregory Wallace. “Winter Holiday Travel Will Be Back With a Vengeance, Travel Groups Predict.” Cable News Network, Cable News Network, 16 Dec. 2021.

Suresh, Hansa and Tanner Cole. “Should Kids Have Homework Over Breaks?” Scholastic News/Weekly Reader Edition 4, Vol. 78, Issue 9, 23 Nov. 2015, p.7. Gale in Context: High School, go.gale.com.

Thaik, Cynthia M. “The Effects of Stress on the Body.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 14 Nov. 2013.

Valosek, Laurent, et.al. “Effect of Meditation on Psychological Stress and Academic Achievement in High School Students: A Randomized Controlled Study.” Education, Vol. 141, Issue 4, Project Innovation, 2021, p.129. Gale in Context: High School, go.gale.com.

OPINION: Return to Traditional School: How COVID-19 Has Impacted Education at NAHS

by Adrianna Wagner, junior

    Unprecedented times. “We are living in unprecedented times.” Last year, these words flooded news articles, television broadcasts, and online advertisements. Following the outbreak of COVID-19, schools across the globe shut down and transitioned to online school. On March 14, 2020, all schools in the Nazareth district closed their doors--not to open again until August of the same year, then offering hybrid learning to its students. Now, over a year later, Nazareth students have returned to traditional in-school instruction five days a week. Needless to say, it has been an adjustment for everyone.

    As a Nazareth student myself, I have experienced the impacts of COVID on our education, as well as our physical and mental wellbeing. Because of this struggle, five days of in-person instruction per week seemed to be what the student body needed to be academically successful. However, upon returning to school, I found that our education itself had been impacted as well. I was curious how those around me were adapting to the changes in the schedule and in the classroom. I spoke with both students and Mr. Davis to get their perspectives on this topic.

    Sophomore Ryan Ortutay experienced a majority of his Freshman year attending Zoom classes. When speaking with him, I asked how the hybrid model impacted his first year of high school in comparison to students such as myself, who were able to experience high school prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Sophomore Ryan
Ortutay 

    When asked if he found it intimidating to enter high school on a hybrid model, Ortutay responded, “Not really. For me personally, it was easier to transition to the big school on a hybrid schedule.” He explained that though he did not feel entirely prepared for the school year, his “teachers are very understanding and will go over stuff again if you ask.”

    Junior Cassandra Zellner, a student athlete, expressed similar sentiments     as she spoke about her experiences coping with the transition while     participating in softball for a majority of the year. She said, “I do feel the teachers are understanding of the last two school years' circumstances and are a bit more lenient. They know students may not have as broad an understanding of the content because we generally lacked in-person instruction last year.”

    With softball as an added commitment, Zellner found this year's return to normal “has definitely been difficult balancing my classes along with my athletics.” She actually found the hybrid model to be more accommodating to her busy schedule “because I could do my work on more of my own time and base that off of my schedule.”

Junior Cassie Zellner completes
homework in Study Hall

 Ortutay and Zellner agreed that some students lack a thorough knowledge of the content as a result of last year. However, they also agree that teachers are more willing to adapt the curriculum to accommodate students this year. And when athletics are factored into the equation, it grants us new insight into the needs of our peers. Though online learning and the hybrid schedule was not conducive to the needs of many students, for those that balance school as well as time-consuming extracurriculars, the hybrid or online model may be a beneficial option.

    Of course, the hybrid model is not universally preferred, especially with it having negatively impacted upperclassmen’s high school experiences. Senior Grace Cuevas spoke openly about her thoughts pertaining to the hybrid model, how her Junior year was affected, and the return to school.

    Cuevas noted, “COVID-19 most impacted my Junior year, which is arguably the most difficult and important year of high school. Junior year is the time to really 'show off' to colleges, so I was taking my most difficult classes yet and participating in multiple extra-curricular activities all within a hybrid model of schooling that I had never before experienced.” She found it to be challenging for her and is now “really happy to be back in person.”

    For an administrative perspective, I spoke with principal Davis who feels “students and staff seem to be adjusting well to being back in school five days a week.” With many students addressing teachers’ understanding, I asked Mr. Davis what the administration has been doing to aid students in the transition from the hybrid model to fully in-person learning.

    Davis said, “From our end the administration continues to work with teachers to remind them to be patient and flexible with students (and parents) as everyone readjusts to in person learning for 5 days a week. We are also trying to resume as many 'normal' activities as possible such as club meetings and activities, Music Department concerts, Homecoming, athletics, and more. It is our hope that we can do everything that we used to do prior to COVID.”

    In speaking to Mr. Davis, it became more apparent that teachers are working to make the transition as straightforward as possible, bearing in mind the needs of each student.

    However, upon returning to school, Cuevas noticed something else. She believes “hybrid model made assigning and grading a lot easier for teachers" which has now resulted in teachers “continuing to assign more online work than I had noticed in past years.”

    An increase in online work has seemed to be the growing trend, with multiple students remarking that there is an increase in technology-use in classrooms. Mr. Davis commented on this, saying “the use of technology by students and teachers has always been on the rise even prior to COVID.” However, he does credit COVID-19 for vastly contributing to the rise of technology-use in the school.

    “There is no doubt that COVID has helped to move that along quicker for some teachers and students who may have been lagging behind,” and that “technology can always be a useful managerial and instructional tool for teachers and students if used the correct way,” Davis said.

    It is no secret that COVID-19 has heavily impacted the lives of people across the globe. Lives were taken, families were destroyed, and our students missed some memorable teenage experiences. In speaking to both students and a member of administration, it is comforting to see the smiling eyes of my peers behind their masks, content and motivated to take on the school year. This time--in person.

All photos provided by Adrianna Wagner

OPINION: Nazareth Bucket List

By Allie Talarico

If you’re like me and my friends and are dispersing across the world for college (This isn’t an exaggeration. London, Michigan, Hawaii, Delaware, the list goes on…), or even if you’re just excited to graduate, then you’ll want closure to all your years in Naz. So, as the only senior writer on the Newspaper, I took it upon myself to formulate the complete Nazareth Bucket List. Carefully beta tested to make sure that these are the ultimate must-dos, here are 10 things to do before you graduate from Nazareth Area High School:

1. Watch the sunrise from the Indian Tower- Wake up at 4:30, grab iced coffee from Dunkin’, gather your friends, and drive to the Indian Tower. You won’t regret it. We recommend going on a summer morning when the weather is warm. We went on May 1st and almost froze to death

2. See the rock- Not to be confused with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson or Plymouth Rock, the rock is the literal foundation of the high school. Shoved in the corner of the fitness center, this is a high school must-see. It’s bigger than you imagine. If you take personal fitness, ask your teacher to show it to you!

3. Jump the Schoneck- Another Nazareth must-see that isn’t so hidden, this is the ultimate nature-made obstacle of our school. Everyone’s gotta jump it once. Just don’t fall in. Don’t jump during the school day. You don’t want to walk into class with soggy shoes.

4. Thank a teacher- This one is arguably the most self-explanatory but most important event on this list. Thank the teachers and the people in your life who helped you make it through these weird 4 years. Shameless plug: In this article, I reflected and thanked some of the great teachers I had at Naz. Check it out!

5. Take a food tour around town- Emily’s, Zanette’s, Naz Diner. The list is endless. Try everything at least once. Naz Diner tastes better at 2 am after a theatre show or football game.

6. Walk through The Borough Park- We originally went to find the Teepees set up in the wooded area of the park until we realized someone tore them down. But the trail was nice regardless! Try to catch the Nazareth Carnival during the summer time. Nothing screams small town like bad food and life threatening carnival rides.

7. Climb the Matrix at NAIS- To make things really feel full circle, grab your 5th grade friend group and climb the matrix one more time. We all know that this is the collective best memory from the Intermediate School.

8. Stroll through The Circle- The prettiest part of Naz, and the center hub, walking around the circle is a must. Try to catch the tree lighting in the winter and the Farmer’s Market in the summer. If you go to the Farmer’s Market, get some Peanut Butter from the Peanut Butter Guy. So. Good.

9. Go to a school dance- Take it from someone who hates school dances, you have to go to at least one. A terrible DJ at Homecoming or a cold, rainy Prom is what makes High School High School. Just go. Remember, the key to a good homecoming or prom night is plans after with your friends. We recommend bowling or playing Mario Kart.

10. Make a Time Capsule and Bury it- In true coming-of-age movie fashion, gather some items that cumulate your four years, stick ‘em in a box, and bury it. Dig it up four years later at your college graduation and look how far you’ve come. (We did most of this list in one weekend. I recommend videotaping your time with your friends on a camcorder and burying the tape. Then, four years later, you can watch it and cringe at your 18 year old selves.)

Four years of high school flies by-- especially when a global pandemic cuts it short--so make the best of it.

13 years later and that’s a wrap. Thanks Naz!

Bye for now,
Allie

OPINION: Wait, Teachers are People too?: A Tribute to Some of Nazareth's Finest

 By Allie Talarico

I was the kind of kid who mapped out their whole life at six years old. I used to imagine high school and what it would be like. I vividly remember doing the math to figure out how far away I was from graduating. 2021, I’d calculate over and over. That’s the year I have to reach. That’s when I’ll finally make it. I’d imagine what it would be like at the very top of the food chain. I’d imagine prom and my classes and finally pulling on a cap and gown. Never did I ever  imagine that when I finally reached my senior year that it would look like this. Granted, I also never imagined that I’d still look like I’m 12 even though I’m nearly a legal adult, so I guess I was wrong on many fronts. 

If I could go back and tell that six year old one thing about what it was actually like to ‘finally make it’, I’d tell her that’s it bittersweet. Sure, I can’t wait to go to college and start a real life, but you can’t help but be at least a little sad watching this long train of lasts leave the station. 

I’ve been reflecting a whole lot on my years in Naz. For thirteen years, I’ve sat in a countless number of desks in a countless number of classrooms, and somehow, each one has seemed to mark an important milestone in my life. Whether this milestone was in kindergarten with Mrs. Koegler when I realized that I really liked this thing called school, or in AP Biology with Mrs. Rakos when I learned that I really liked this thing called biology and wanted to spend the rest of my life studying it. Here’s what I’ve recently come to understand: the milestones I reached were only possible with the guidance of the teachers who have been the gleaming lights on this long, tedious road. 

After 13 years of pinning landmarks on the map of my life, I was left with one burning question: what makes the teachers at Nazareth so good? I mean, is it something they put in the water? 

In order to answer this question, I turned to some of the most influential teachers that have had a profound impact on my educational career, and sought out their secrets to the classroom. 

***

You didn’t ask, but I’ve always considered myself to have peaked in the third grade. It’s tragic, really, that I was at my best at 9 years old. 3rd grade Allie just seemed to have had her life together in ways 12th grade Allie aspires to. She knew what she wanted, she wasn’t afraid of what people thought, and of course, she had a great classroom to grow in. Mrs. Nolder was my last teacher at Lower Nazareth Elementary, but arguably the one that had the biggest impact on me while I was there. I would be lying if I told you that I remembered every lesson she taught me because I don’t. But for me, it wasn’t about the lessons Mrs. Nolder taught me. Instead, it was the safety of her classroom, the trust we had in another, and the way I felt that I remember. 

Speaking with Mrs. Nolder now, I realized that the way I felt in her classroom wasn’t a coincidence. Each year, Mrs. Nolder seeks to make a connection with each of her students from the very beginning. “The first thing is making students feel really welcome,” she told me when asked about her traditions for the first day. “Students can’t learn until they feel safe. Typically we do a lot of STEM, team building activities in order to make our classroom family.”

This family atmosphere which Mrs. Nolder tries to incorporate in her class was the exact kind of welcoming sense I remember feeling when I walked in there every day in the third grade. This is due to the positive energy that Mrs. Nolder practices every day. But don’t be fooled; it’s more than just her cheery smile, it’s her outlook on coming to school. “Everyday I wake up, and I’m excited to come here,” she told me. “I don’t wake up and feel like it’s a job and I don’t want to go. I love what I do and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.” Mrs. Nolder mentioned how a strictly cyber schedule last spring hampered with this connection. But she didn’t dwell on this negative for too long, and instead told me how grateful she was to have the opportunity to return in-person learning. “I’m very thankful to be back in the classroom, and not only looking at their icons on the screen. That’s not what it’s about for me. It’s not about telling them the curriculum. It’s about making a connection.”

***

This connection piece doesn’t end once you progress past elementary school. In fifth grade, Mrs. Trach says that her job is to keep students “hooked on learning.” She told me that her greatest feat is being involved with “students’ lives beyond 5th grade… “It means that I was able to make a connection with a kid that lasted more than 180 days.” This connection really does make a difference, especially in a grade as strange as fifth grade, as I don’t think there is a time when you become more acutely aware that you have a body and a brain. If third grade me was peak me, fifth grade me was at the bottom of the barrel. But despite being a weird time to be human, fifth grade was the year Mrs. Trach introduced me to my love for reading and sparked my passion for writing. Mrs. Trach taught me something that I still am empowered to believe today and that is that WORDS ARE REALLY COOL! Without her class, I wouldn’t be where I am today, and I probably wouldn’t be writing this article. 

Her inspiration for teaching reaches beyond just forming meaningful connections. Mrs. Trach told me that her inspiration was the long line of meaningful teachers who came before her. Being the daughter and granddaughter to profound teachers of their time, Mrs. Trach is keeping her family line strong each and every morning she comes into the class. Being a Nazareth veteran for 16 years, I asked Mrs. Trach what she believed has changed during the time the class of 2021 has been in the district. She told me the main thing that has changed as an ELA teacher is the shift of teaching students to practice creative writing to technical, analytic writing. In fact, she told me that she thinks it was the class of 2021 that pioneered this shift when the Text Dependent Analysis section was first introduced to the PSSA’s. Mrs. Trach told me that this addition to the tests was so overwhelming for creative writers in my class, that it even led to a few “breakdowns” at testing time. I laughed at this story, because frankly, it’s kind of funny. But this just seemed to clarify one idea that had been stirring in the back of my mind: a lot of change has happened with the class of 2021. 

Not only were we the first class to usher in this new technical, writing curriculum, but we are also the first to spend our entire senior year in a pandemic. And on a more positive note, in the 7th grade, we were the first class to start with chromebooks. Technology, most of my teachers agreed, was the biggest change in the 13 years as my class has moved through the district. Mr. Snyder, my 8th grade history teacher, said “the biggest change is the shift from a paper curriculum to an online curriculum.”

***

When I consider the eighth grade, I remain on the same slippery slope that I categorize fifth grade under. My only solace is that eighth grade is an awkward transitional phase for everyone, and I can promise you that I was no exception. Just figuring out how to be a real person, fourteen years old was not a time you wanted to meet me in. Unfortunately for him, that was the year Mr. Snyder had to have me in class. In the eighth grade, just like in the years before, I had the chance to come out of my shell and really practice my love for writing. Most of this happened in Mr. Snyder’s history class where I had the opportunity to participate in a speech competition. (Also important to mention, Mr. Snyder’s 8th grade history class was the only class to date that allowed me to sing Hamilton as a part of the lesson. I think this would be a good time to formally apologize to everyone in my class that year who had to listen to me rap “Non-Stop”). 

Looking back, I have realized that these wonderful moments happened in-person, in a classroom. Obviously, due to the current situation, things are different now. A cyber/hybrid schedule is the safest option for many students and families, and even though it’s a bummer that this is the way things are playing out, as long as everyone remains safe and healthy, then that’s all that matters.

However with the sudden implication of cyber school, at least in the school setting, it seems like things are going to stay on this technological advance for a little while. I asked Mr. Snyder what he thinks will continue to change in the next 13 years when the kindergarteners of today are graduating high school, and he said that he can see “cyber school becoming a mainstay in education”. 

And my other teachers, including Mrs. Jameson, agreed. “Technology is the biggest change,” she told me, especially through “our ability to communicate with students more frequently with schoology.” But she also believes that, emerging from the pandemic, schools across the nation will rethink the more traditional aspects of school including “school start times,” adhering to “really strict due dates,” and instead to begin to prioritize the “students’ mental health.” I think we can all agree that this is good news. 

Unlike the years before, I can’t be too critical of myself in the 11th grade since not enough time has passed for me to regret any personal choices I had made last year. Although it was a strange year that got cut short with unprecedented circumstances, I took my favorite classes in the school district during my junior year of high school: AP Psychology with Mr. Andstadt, AP Biology with Mrs. Rakos, and of course, AP Language and Composition with Mrs. Jameson. Lang was the first class where I felt like a real writer. Yes, I had been a writer in all of my previous English classes when I wrote papers, but this class was the one that really allowed me to craft my own voice. I am forever indebted to Mrs. Jameson for helping me do this. 

Lang was unique in the sense that Mrs. Jameson took to the practices she preaches of prioritizing students' mental health and made our well-being a key role in her classroom. Teaching 11th grade, Mrs. Jameson knows the trials and tribulations that students face making sure junior year is spotless for college apps. The priority of caring for our mental health shows through the conversations that flow in her class whether that be through smiles and frowns (starting off class by sharing a positive or negative event currently going on in our lives) or through the large group conversations that had persisted every 4th block I spent in her class. And if she had the chance to teach another course, Mrs. Jameson told me she would teach AP Psychology for the same reason: conversations. 

Creating a positive classroom environment is one of the few things in the district that hasn’t changed. Another thing that hasn’t changed? Weird student trends. While the slang seems to transform with the student body, all of the teachers can count on weird ways Gen Z decides to present itself. For Mr. Snyder, weird trends include “holes in the jeans” and “walking around with little white things in your ears all day” (aka airpods). For Mrs. Trach it’s lately been the term “yeet” which pops up in conversation between fifth graders and in the Zoom chats. 

***

But the uniqueness of my generation isn’t the only thing that has remained solid through the passing of time. Another is student success stories. Mrs. Nolder told me that the arcs she finds most rewarding are the ones of students who come in claiming that they don’t like reading or writing. Her favorite moment is when these particular students can say at the end of the year “I like reading now” or “wow, I can write.” “That feeling of knowing you’ve made a difference, broadened their horizons, and opened those doors for them” is the moment Mrs. Nolder said is the most gratifying. For my other teachers, it was a particular student that they remembered. Mrs. Jameson told me about a student who came into her class and had the opportunity to read short stories by authors who were representative of minorities. This student, who was previously struggling, told her that the article they read in class made him feel heard and gave him confidence. After that, the student felt as though he could succeed and could excel in education, even though the society may make him feel otherwise. Now, he is a junior in college, and succeeding in everything he puts his mind to. 

***

The easiest question for all four teachers to answer was the last question I asked them: what advice do you have for me and the class of 2021 as we embark on this next step of our lives?

I got a variety of wonderful answers as you’d expect from wonderful people. Mr. Snyder  wants us to make the most of our limited college years and to “be willing to take chances for things we normally wouldn’t do”. And an equally important one, “vote!” Mrs. Nolder smiled and told us to find something we love and to do it everyday for the rest of our lives. Mrs. Trach reminded me of the lesson she taught us on the first day of school, and that was to keep asking questions and to keep being curious. And Mrs. Jameson wants us to never stop learning, whether that be in a classroom or as a student of the world.

I figured this question was the easiest for them to answer because they all share one common trait: they’re all wonderful teachers. In many ways, this was their last time to teach me one final lesson. 

But after I exited my last zoom interview, I realized something more. Their advice wasn’t just easy to give because they are all great teachers; their advice was easy to give because they are all great human beings. And I have a secret to share. This similarity isn’t linked to just these four educators, but across the whole faculty at Nazareth. For 13 years I’ve been in this school district learning about the mitochondria and the constitution, but more importantly, I’ve also learned how to be a kind, compassionate human being. This was only possible because I saw these traits modeled by the people who stood before me in the front of the classroom. 

Yes, I may not remember each and every lesson these teachers taught me about the curriculum, but I’ll never forget the way they made me feel. 

***

So, there’s the secret to the classroom, Naz. It’s not in the water. It’s in the people. And now, as I reflect on the 13 years as I’ve walked in and out of each of their classrooms, I realize that makes all the difference.

OPINION: Election Day Off for Everyone!

By Sydney Daly and Adrianna Wagner

In today’s volatile climate, safety within schools is of utmost priority. The thought of an outsider entering the secure community of a public school is unsettling at the very least. This caused the Nazareth Area School District, as well as some other districts to close on Election Day, granting students a day off.

Image credit: abc57.com

When asked about the decision, NASD Superintendent Dr. Dennis L. Riker stated, "In the past we have only had voting at Butz Elementary School.  This year, voting will also take place at the Middle School. For the safety of our staff and students, I have recommended we close the District for the day."

However, the choice to close districts on Election Day is left entirely to school officials. Hundreds of thousands of students and working-class citizens are required to attend work and school on Election Day. This can prevent them from fulfilling their civic duty because they may not have time to get to the polls. Election Day should be recognized as a National Holiday. Declaring Election Day a holiday could give the citizens preoccupied with daily life the opportunity to vote, as well as ensure the safety of students all across America.