Do you wonder why we haven’t gotten the booths back? Wonder where the line is drawn between hats and beanies? These questions and more were answered when I interviewed principal Mr. Izor and counselor Ms. Opperman. 

The first question I set out to answer was when we might be able to get the booths back for lunch. Before covid the cafeteria was full of booths and tables where groups of friends could sit, but now it’s all desks with the occasional collection of tables in the front. At first it made sense, obviously with COVID-19 sweeping through they had to keep everyone six feet apart. But now, 2 years later the desks still remain, why is that? 

My talk with Mr. Izor gave me an answer I was looking for “[The Booths and Tables] are no longer available to us and so as a result we need enough seating for students” Mr Izor explained, “We are looking for seating available inside the district”. 

One of my other questions was about the seemingly newer, stricter policy and punishments for having a phone out. However when I asked both of them, they said that the policies were actually still pretty light or just now being enforced again. “It really isn’t new that students are expected to keep their phones put away in class,” Ms Opperman said. “In terms of the cell phone policy I think, honestly, ours is still very lenient,” Mr. Izor also commented. It’s interesting to think about how they both answered the same way, either saying that the policies were almost the same or still less strict compared to the rest of the county.   

  My last question was about the new program introduced this year for advisory, SEL. SEL stands for Social and Emotional Learning and both Mr. Izor and Ms. Opperman were on board with and encouraged SEL, Ms. Opperman explained that, “A huge part of my job is SEL and I have been teaching SEL for years, including to many of the students here when they were in elementary school.” Ms. Opperman also explained what SEL was. “The main components of SEL are self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision making. Even as an adult I feel that I am still growing in these areas.” 

This experience was very interesting getting the chance to sit down and talk with both of them and I thank them for taking some time to answer my questions. This helped clarify a lot of information on what’s going on in the school and all the new stuff this year. I hope this helps people understand why some things work some ways instead of others. If you have any questions you want answered or asked you can leave them in the comments and I’ll try to ask them.