Dear Editor,
As a student in a local school, I actually feel very happy and eager to be back at school because I miss human contact. Even though I have a big family, having them as my only social bubble for months is more than enough family time. I missed seeing all my friends and feeling the rhythm of the real world. Besides, the lack of structure when studying from home made it hard to differentiate study from rest.
We need to be aware of the fact that this is a very demanding year for classroom teachers and we should appreciate all the sacrifices they are making. They are constantly jumping between marking in-school students’ work and online students’ work.
Another thing I am grateful for is how our school counsellor is paying closer attention to our emotional needs and watching out for mental health issues. For instance, she went round to every class to introduce herself and played a very informative and interesting jeopardy game with us. This jeopardy included key categories such as getting to know her and her job, as well as mindfulness strategies. These mindfulness strategies include learning how to be calm and how to integrate a growth mindset into our lives.
In short, let us all reciprocate our educators’ care and kindness. Their jobs are hard enough without the pandemic.
Phoenix Wu
RICHMOND
