![Adding a tray of canned corn to the pile, junior Michael Collop assists in transporting donations for the Holiday Food Drive. The event, hosted schoolwide from Dec. 10-17, raised over 5,000 food items to deliver to the Parkway Food Pantry, helping several families in need. [The drive] is a great thing for us to do because you're giving to those who are less fortunate, and it helps provide for people who can't provide for themselves. [The] competition is always fun, too. It was fun to be in [social studies teacher Jess] Chazen’s class, because he always gets worked up over [the competition]. He made it exciting, and was always convincing us to turn in cans for the drive,” Collop said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/feature-photo-unsung-2.png)
![NEW CHALLENGE, NEW TEAM MEMBERS: Every season, VEX creates a new game that robotics team members are faced with and have to build a robot to compete in. This year’s game forces students to create a robot that is able to stack rings onto mobile goals in order to score points. The change in games each season is something that robotics teacher Audrea Moyers appreciates.
“One of the things that I like about VEX is that they have a new problem to solve every year,” she said. ¨Even though the equipment’s the same, they have to analyze the game, and they have to come up with solutions that are unique that year. They are using their knowledge from prior years, but they have to kind of redesign a problem.”
As returning teams were faced a new game, some new teams and members had to adapt to a uncommon playing field and game.
“Three of our four teams were competing for the first time this year, and they had very different experiences match to match, so I think they learned a lot,¨ she said. ¨It’s hard just watching a video online to know how it’s actually going to be in person, so they all learned a lot about what gameplay is like, how to work with an alliance partner [and] how to adapt during the day to changes.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_9283-1-1200x800.jpg)
The past two years introduced a struggle unlike any other for students across Day Creek’s campus. While everyone seems to have a story connected to Covid, few may have considered the impact on our special education students. With the pandemic’s end in sight, how will this unique group of students adapt to a typical day on campus?
“The hardest part was getting back into the swing of school – the routine and the rules and the structure and the moving around from class to class, because they hadn’t been in school since the middle of fourth grade,” said special education teacher, Mrs. Hampton.
It has been a challenge, not only for special ed. students, but also for their parents and teachers as well. There have been numerous bumps in the road in an effort to assure that these students receive the education that they need.
“Being back on campus in a real classroom setting is much more advantageous because they get to interact with teachers and peers,” said Mrs. Hampton, “It was really hard for students to be on a computer and get that same education.”
Regular education students may not have struggled similarly having had the ability to digitally communicate with their friends. Social time was available through Facetime and Google Meet. But special ed. children often lacked the technological ability to communicate with their friends during the pandemic.
“When we were at home, that is one thing that [my child] was lacking. It was very difficult for her to be around kids her age. They had a class on Saturdays that worked on this and that got canceled [due to the pandemic],” said Mr.Troli, father of Isabella Troli.
The pandemic made it more difficult for special ed. students to return to school because they had to relearn how to interact with peers. Most students’ socializing skills were lost because of the lockdown, a significant detriment to their development on campus.
“A lot of [the problem] was socializing. Some of our kids are already working on socializing skills. [Because they were] home for school, they didn’t get that social time,” said Mrs. Hampton.
Even though these have been difficult circumstances, special ed. students continue to make a speedy recovery in their return to a school routine. With the help of teachers, parents, and even other peers, they are adjusting to the new environment.
“It took us about two months to get back – one month to get them to feel safe and another month to get back into routine,” said Mrs. Hampton.
Not only are they adapting quickly, but special ed. students are also taking pleasure in the educational environment. This is essential for their mental health, social growth, and educational success.
“She really enjoyed coming back. [Other students] might have had days where they don’t want to come back to school. But that hasn’t been a problem for her once,” said Mr. Troli.
Though all students have had to adjust to the unique experiences of the past two years, most students, including those in Day Creek’s special ed. program, agree that a return to campus is for the best.
“I like [being] here in person, because you can hang around with your friends and on Zoom, I couldn’t really focus. Overall, I like in-person school better,” said eighth grader, Josiah T.
This story was originally published on The Day Creek Howl on April 22, 2022.
