On Jan. 19 students and faculty of Columbia Public Schools went back to school in  in-seat learning.  

Middle school and high school will attend school for this second semester in hybrid form. This means either Monday to Tuesday or Thursday to Friday students will be in the school building for learning and spend the rest of the week online. Elementary will be going to school in person Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. 

Many students are excited to be back at school to get back and learn, WenHsin Chen, sophomore, is one of those students. 

“In school, surrounded by friends, classmates, and teachers for some weird reason just helps me hold myself more accountable with school work,” Chen said.   

But not every student is excited to be back at school.

“Honestly, I’m not excited to be back at all. The safety precautions that are taking place are necessary but lead to an experience that’s functualy the same as being virtual,” said Liam Schrader, junior. 

Alexis Mendez, senior, said she is ready to be back in the school environment, especially since online was more of a challenge for her to learn.

“It’s easier for me to learn in that environment and I have more motivation,” Mendez said. “Everything being online is really hard for me. [My] wifi is really bad so I have complications,” said Mendez. 

 But there are students that prefer the online half of the hybrid model.

“I love being online. Working at your own pace and completing assignments quickly is very helpful,” said Schrader.

But Mendez and Chen were not the only ones ready to be back in school and to find online difficult.

Cameron Backer, sophomore, said, “There are a lot more opportunities to do stuff, like track and choir [to] get people motivated.” Baker went on to say, “[Being] online it’s hard to just get up and do it, you know.” 

But in-seat classes can have their issues, as Schrader explained, the group one and group two division of the school and the COVID-19 prevention precautions affect the school environment.

“We sit in class, wearing masks, isolated from all students and teachers, and type on our laptops … it’s very surreal. It feels like the school’s soul is completely drained,” Schrader said.

Schrader is not the only student that feels the group division is not ideal, Kenny Miller, senior, said that he feels that the classes should stay together.

“I wish that the seniors would go at the same time to say goodbye [to] the people we were brought up with. We’re not going to see most of these people again,” said Miller. 

But despite different preferences for modes of learning, some students are happy to see people again.

“The best thing for me is seeing all of my friends again. I loved being able to talk to them and catch up,” said Schrader.