Since March 13th, 2020, the battle between NA and COVID-19 has impacted the education of students and the duties of teachers. 

From NA Cyber Academy (NACA) to switching cohorts, the structure of North Allegheny has shifted throughout the past two years. 

Sophomore Alli Goughnour,  previously a NACA student, explains how COVID has affected her learning. “I had only planned on staying in the cyber academy for 9 weeks,” says Goughnour, “those 9 weeks eventually became an entire school year of doing school from my bedroom…I think a big part of staying online for me was the fear of coming back to an actual school again, I hadn’t really seen anyone face to face in a long time.” 

Goughnour, amongst many other students, has found remote learning a challenge. “I definitely started to lack motivation from sitting at the same desk in my room every day”.

The constant changing of the school system has affected the learning, their social life, and their attitudes. Being at home for the majority of the 2020 school year, students have not been able to interact and grow relationships with their peers and teachers, as well as finding it hard to learn from a computer screen.

“Trying to interact with the class and understanding the material was really difficult during remote learning, it was still school, but the best parts of it were taken away,” says Majerac. 

On the other hand, the organization of school in-person has changed how students engage in their learning and socialization at school. Sophomore Kiki Majerac adds that “everything we do is restricted. Things like lunches, homecoming, and classes feel strange because we all have this thing [COVID-19] guarding us.” 

As well as students being affected by the changing environment, teachers also find that this is affecting the school. “It just seems as though masks, social distancing, cohorts 1 and 2 last year, and you know, the whole COVID thing, it has changed the way we operate a lot,” says Social Studies teacher Connor McClain.

Corresponding to the changing environment, the mental health and education of students have been affected. “As teachers, we are concerned for the health and safety of our students. The public health menace of COVID heightened these concerns,” says Mark Demkee, a German language teacher at NA. “The physical and mental health of our students have been amplified. The concern borne out of the pandemic has been an added stress to students, educators, and our schools.”  

“I would say there has been a fairly large decline in student learning and skills. I believe that this can be attributed to the stay-at-home order and hybrid model of learning,” says McClain, addressing the changing structure of the school.

As well as the school system being impacted, teachers and students have been personally affected by the pandemic. “Being a student in the middle of all this has really affected the way I learn and the whole learning process,” says sophomore Kiki Majerac. The education and teaching of NA have been impacted by the pandemic, leaving the question of what is to come. 

Even after COVID-19 has rampaged throughout the world and at NA, everyone is hopeful for the future of the school. McClain concludes, “I feel hopeful that NAI will continue to head towards the NAI that was energetic and full of fun. Already this year has been more lively than the last, and that is something that I hope continues in the future. Whatever the new “normal” turns out to be, let’s be kind and have fun.”