All students and staff can agree, COVID has affected life both inside and outside of school. 

Within the turmoil of the pandemic, the Anchorage School District made it an option for students to either return to in person for the final quarter, or remain home and be part of the hybrid program, a newly introduced teaching plan for students to continue their learning at home. 

This quarter is very strange to many students and teachers who must adapt to their own class curriculum and unique schedules. 

While learning at home, hybrid students must find the inner discipline and motivation to work and finish their assignments on time, with limited help from their teachers. 

On the other end, teachers must be fluid with their teaching curriculum and must make two separate plans for their in-person students and stay-at-home students.

Some teachers bend their schedules in different ways. 

While some have Zoom open and teachers teach both at-home students and in-person students at the same time, some teachers will let their students work freely all days of the week and only Zoom on wednesday. 

For some, it is hard to adapt to sudden changes and learn by themselves at home and they might choose to switch to in-person teaching. 

On the other hand, students may stay at home or switch to online to avoid contact with others at school, in regards to their health and safety. 

Different students and teachers have varying reasons for being part of the hybrid program. 

Larssen Anderson, a Dimond Senior, said, “ I chose the hybrid program because I still wanted to be a part of Dimond and the community but have the flexibility to either be in person or online. I originally came back to in person at the beginning of the fourth quarter but quickly decided to remain online just because of COVID precautions.” 

Larssen added, “A majority of my classes are Zooming for the hybrid during the four days a week that people are in person so it really allows the online students to feel a part of the class. I feel like most students can agree with me when I say that online and hybrid learning is a completely different dynamic than we’re actually used to.” 

While the hybrid program is definitely a different dynamic than what most are used to, teachers are doing their best to help their hybrid students and in-person students. 

Tracy Blevins, a social studies teacher at Dimond, explained the teacher’s view. 

Blevins said, “I do believe my students get the same amount of educational opportunities whether they are in person or online. I offer both my in-person classes and hybrid classes the same assignments, support on Wednesday Zooms and my hybrid students are welcome to join our in-person classes via Zoom daily.” 

Thankfully, even amidst a pandemic, Dimond’s teachers are doing their best to help their students succeed, and students are doing their best to make good of their strange circumstances.