By: Jim Fahy, DHS Social Studies Teacher
Class of 2022, you are a class that has shown true resilience in your educational journey. From the COVID-19 pandemic to the constant changes in your schedule, you had to change and adapt continuously. You have been very flexible and versatile in your high school education.
Your high school career will always be identified with the pandemic. As Sophomores, you were removed from the classroom and thrown into the virtual learning environment to continue your education online. Your experience was a little different from many around the country. As a result of the block schedule, many of you never met personally with your teacher, and the experience in the class required some intrinsic motivation to do your best.
COVID-19 would also affect your Junior year as we began to meet in person again but on the modified A/B schedule. Some days you met online to meet the requirements of the class, while other times, you were in class with the teacher. While in person, we had all the COVID protocol rules…6 feet distance, masks, staggered dismissal, and the constant cleaning. We were always dreading that note from the office…you were a close contact and had to go home for the mandatory quarantine time, further distracting your education.
COVID-19 wasn’t the only change for you. Remember when you were a freshman? All freshmen had to have study hall during opportunity period. The following year that all changed, and first-year students didn’t need to have study hall. Remember your junior year, we moved to split lunch and no required OP or study hall. Throw in having to choose an academy to become a part of and class pathways to help prepare you for your future. Then comes your senior year, the A/B schedule, 3 or 4 classes at a time to 6-8 classes. Time management and organization became a greater priority than any other time in your high school career. Change was a constant in your educational journey, and you adapted to it very well.
And now we come to the end. Your journey as a high school student comes to an end, and hopefully, you are choice ready to continue your higher education, join the military or enter the workforce. Adulting will provide you with even more challenges than high school, and hopefully, your experience at DHS will allow you to adapt and be successful in the adult world. You will be missed, you left your mark on our school, and the Class of 2022 will be known for its flexibility, adaptability and resilience. Remember to be the change you want to see in the world. Be kind to everyone. From me to you one last time…be safe, be smart, stay out of jail, stay out of the morgue…have a great life, and do great things because I know you can.