Volume IV Issue V April 2021 https://www.fusd.net/abmiller 6821 Oleander Ave., Fontana, CA 92336 Introduction by Michael Vedo With the vaccination rollout in California reaching unprecedented numbers, we are seeing our cases of COVID-19 plummet daily. On the twelfth of April, California’s vaccination population of those 16 years and older is 28 percent. With 29,034,050 doses being administered, nearly 50% of the population has had at least one dose of the vaccine. As a state, California has handled the efficiency of vaccine distribution better than some countries. In mid-April and as demographics of eligible groups continues to expand, the hope is that with those vaccinated, herd immunity will take hold and phase out the virus altogether. This means that our view of normalcy, inches closer and closer to restoration. This means it is time to return to in-person learning. But with all the excitement of our region heading into orange and yellow tiers, few have stopped to actually ask those that are most affected if they want to return to in-person learning this year: the students. It is almost a forgone conclusion that everyone wants to return at some point to the classroom before the year is over, but realistically, that is a falsified assumption. Some students have legitimate fears and concerns about in person learning, even if that means remaining in isolation for another few months before the start of next school year. Being that this is a student led publication, I felt it very important to allow those that matter most, the students, to voice their position on returning to in-person learning. This photo was taken by me on Friday, March 13, 2020. As I packed-up my supplies With that said, I asked three students to express their insight on the minutes after students left the premise, an eerie, uneasy quietness nestled itself into situation. my classroom, and the rest of the H-Building. First being junior, Tiana Larsen. I had Tiana as a student for Honors English freshmen year and she was also in my Journalism class writing for the publication at the time we were sent home in hopes of curtailing the pandemic. I know Tiana to not only be an extremely intelligent individual, but one that is full of creativity, kindness, and empathy. Not many students think to ask their teachers how their day is going or express concern if I have a pensive look on my face. Tiana is the one student that will be aware and ask. Octavio Galvan has been with me all four years of his high school career. Not many can put up with me for one year, let alone four, but Octavio and I have a bond over all things Stars Wars and sarcasm. Since day one, Octavio has been the definition of a rock. If something needs to be done, it will get done. He was with me on our Yearbook staff at the time we were sent home. Finally, Melvin Alvarez. Like Tiana and Octavio, I too had Melvin as a freshman in Honors English. Now, while Melvin did not always do his work, that was something that I could always look beyond as his unorthodox perspectives during class Socratics and insight in his writings made me jump at the chance to work with him in Yearbook. He too was on the Yearbook staff when we were sent home. I encourage you all to please, take the time and read their unfiltered takes. Some will be on par with yours, some will not. That is okay. It is important for the student voice to be heard ahead of our return to in-person learning on May 3. By Tiana Larsen, Grade 11 I do not wish for your pity in sharing I have my small group of friends that I Distance learning has become the this with you—isolation is difficult no mat- talk to whether we do or do not have school. I norm. It is the norm, this is just the way ter who you are—but I think it helps set up could just imagine returning to school, things are. I have survived for over a year— my reservations about potentially returning sitting inside one of my AP classes, and my whether or not I have thrived is debatable— to school. I feel a million anxieties race teacher staring back at my blank expression and in some ways, it is hard to remember through my head at the thought: I’ll finally realizing I have no clue what is actually what life was like before the pandemic. For be a senior, will I even get a graduation? going on. I would much rather sit behind the instance, when I am watching a TV show or What will I return to? Will I be slotted on safety of an inactive camera talking to my dog movie, every time without fail I either freak the same days as my friends? Will the stu- about how awesome the new The Falcon and out wondering why they don’t have masks on dents in the classroom be prioritized over The Winter Soldier episode was. or just mentally put masks on the characters. the ones stuck on the computer?—it is then, At this point I have already started the (Yes, even the old shows! I just started in the moment where I must stop myself and seven week count down until I am finished. If watching Big Time Rush for the first time and take a moment to breathe. I go to class or open a laptop, I am just ready can’t even count the number of times my As of April 2021, I am not ready. to be done. mind has wandered and suddenly I have I’m scared and I’m not too prideful to admit imagined one of the characters has a mask that. The thought of returning to what feels on!) like an entirely different world than the one I remember life at A.B. Miller before I was forced to leave in March 2020 terrifies the pandemic, but it feels so impossibly far me, but I still find a part of myself buzzing By Melvin Alvarez, Grade 12 away like some hallucination or fever dream. with excitement, knowing that, I may soon Sometimes I can’t help but wonder if I Every time I hear people talking about return to normalcy—or what’s left of it at going back to school all I could think is, actually did imagine it all in the first place— least. I also find myself worrying about the all those years of kindergarten-10th grade, “What’s even the point of going back now?” other possibility: the possibility that we may I mean, yeah, it would be nice to go to were they all just a figment of my imagina- not return to schools for my senior year. For tion? I really wouldn’t know how else to school for my final months as a senior, but now, I will try to keep the worries at bay there’s literally only a handful of weeks left. explain how quickly isolation has tainted all and try to take each day in stride. memories of normalcy. At that point, I would just rather continue to I won’t give you a full run-down of pretend in my online classes until I graduate. my medical history—there’s really no need— I was optimistic about going back but the most important conditions I have at when it was in the talks a couple of months play in this pandemic are neurodivergency back, though there was a tinge of panic in my heart. That panic came from the fact that I (for those who are unfamiliar, it is an By Octavio Galvan, Grade 12 umbrella term that describes the way in which would have to miraculously be awake at 7AM, As a senior, my longing to go to which seems like a total pain. people with mental disorders and illnesses are school is already at an all-time low, but in different from the “norm;” it also describes It was a nightmare a year ago and a all seriousness, I could definitely live nightmare now. the way that the brain may be altered from the without going back to in person attendance. norm or “neurotypical” brain due to these As a person who loves to sleep, it The main reason is because we doesn’t make any sense that I love to sleep at conditions) and immunocompromisation. would be returning to class, and not to In some ways, isolation is different for the early hour of 3AM. Trust me it’s not on school. With all the restrictions it is hard to purpose, well most of the time. It is an endless me than most people at this point. The first believe that going back to school would three months of quarantine never really ended cycle of waking up and sleeping late. The include any events or aspects that I actually waking up late part is the problem, especially for me. When the restrictions lifted and miss about high school. There would be no relaxed for most people, I was still stuck at when it’s 30 minutes into first period and I am rallies, no dances. And I honestly like barely rolling out of bed. home; when people rushed out of their homes having good grades for a change, so going at the first taste of freedom, I stayed in the I am not completely against going back is not the best idea for me.