In-person learning resumes at BP High School

After nearly a full year of distance or hybrid learning, Monday marked the first day back at school for in-person learning for all Blooming Prairie seventh-grader, eighth-graders and freshmen. The students will be in school every day except Wednesday, which is designated as a distance-learning day.
Sophomores, juniors and seniors will resume in-person learning next Monday.
Seventh-graders Lyla and Lincoln Quail, eighth-grader Abby Jordison and junior James Wohlferd said they’re excited to be back learning in-person because now they can see all their friends.
Likewise, health and physical education teacher David Lassahn said the staff is also excited to have students in the building more often.
“I think that almost everyone is looking forward to the return of all students in the building.  We want the students back in the building. But we know we have to be able to do it safely, and we feel like this is the right time to bring them all back in person. The administration has been great about supporting us during this time and keeping all students and staff safe,” he said.
Business education teacher Chad Gimbel agreed that it’s great the kids are coming back, especially for those kids who need help.
“I think having them all here will help us reach those kids, especially those kids who are struggling a little bit. I see it especially with the junior high kids; it’s hard for them. That’s a big independent step if they don’t have somebody at home watching over them to make sure they’re doing their work. Hopefully, this will help us get all kids back on track and be more successful in the classroom,” he said.
One of the students who said he’d benefit academically is Wohlferd.
“I’m not really a student who can sit at home, be online and be focused, but being in the classroom helps me be focused. The teachers can get you back on track if you’re off track,” said Wohlferd, adding that getting back on track and being focused in class may be difficult for students who weren’t focused during distance learning.
Lyla Quail said it might take some time to get used to being back in-person.
“There’s fewer kids when we did distance learning, so it’s kind of weird coming back, and then getting used to all in-person classes,” she said.
Meanwhile, Jordison said that the hardest part of returning to in-person learning for her would be coming to school four days a week rather than having three days not in school each week.
While it may take the students some time to get used to, Gimbel said in-person learning is much more effective than distance or hybrid learning.
“We do the best we can when we’re lecturing the kids, but when they’re listening through a screen, they’re not getting the full effect as they would if they were here. I think they won’t be as afraid to ask questions, and I think the interaction is going to be a whole lot better. I think we’ve done the best we could with the situation we’ve been given, but I think this is a good step too, getting us back to some normalcy,” he said.
None of the students said they were concerned about returning even though the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing.
Lassahn said he’s also not concerned about having all the students in the building on the same days since students and staff will be wearing masks and practicing social distancing.
“These two things have been very effective so far this year, and we haven’t had any Covid-19 outbreaks in our school. Our janitorial staff does an awesome job of keeping our buildings clean and safe for our students and staff as well,” he said.
In addition to helping students academically while keeping them safe, Lassahn said the move to in-person learning also helps ease the burden on teachers.
“It will help lighten the load quite a bit. Instead of teaching the same class in multiple ways, we can go back to teaching the students all together in one place. We will still have a few distance learners and some distance learning stuff to plan. However, it won’t be anything like before when half of the class was distance,” he said.
“It also makes turning in assignments and the grading process a bit easier. It will be helpful to have more communication with students in person throughout the week.”