On the first day of school, temperatures are checked at Thrall High School, Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. Photo by Christina Strnad
While many schools have chosen to go virtual, Thrall ISD opted for a multiple-learning approach: in-person classes four days a week, remote on Wednesdays and an all-virtual option for students. Yearbook adviser Christina Strnad recounts the unusual, humorous and exhausting first week.
Going the Distance is a new blog series about embracing yearbook challenges. This is the second post in the series which will be available on the Balfour Blog. We hope you’ll enjoy hearing from different advisers and reps around the country.
As I finished preparing my classroom to welcome students for the first time since their abrupt departure in March, my phone buzzed with a last-minute Sunday update from my principal.
“Don’t be shocked when you arrive tomorrow morning . . . the news media will be on campus.”
My first thought was, wow! This is going to make an awesome yearbook spread. I checked my camera batteries, messaged my editor and set my early alarm.
Thrall is a rural 2A public school in Williamson County, but I guess even small schools can be big news when they are the first in the area to resume in-person instruction during a pandemic.
Monday morning, Aug. 10, we opened the doors and welcomed 50 percent of our students and 100 percent of the local news media: KVUE, KXAN, FOX7 and CBS Austin. News crews swarmed the campus, setting up in the library and broadcasting live from the parking lot. If you look carefully at the KXAN footage, you will see a yearbook teacher lurking in the dark, pre-dawn background. I felt like the paparazzi turning the lens on the paparazzi.
In the Thrall High School library, Fox7 interviews teacher Nicole Tindol. Photo by Christina Strnad
By 7:30, masked students lined up outside the front doors for temperature checks before entering the building and finding seats in the spacious commons area. One or two students sat at round tables that were built for eight. It was unusually quiet for the first day.
When the first period tardy bell rang, five students were seated in my classroom for roll check—12 other faces popped up in my Google Meet including one irritable, fully bearded senior who the 11 freshmen mistook for a scary teacher. Awkward virtual moment No. 1.
Roll check took 15 minutes. All high school students are expected to follow our regular daily bell schedule in real-time, attending each class in-person or virtually via Google Meet. “In-person” students are divided into A/B groups and are physically on campus two days a week. Everyone is virtual on Wednesday and some students are virtual every day. I think I will bring our attendance clerk flowers next week.
Second period was a small group of Journalism I students. I set aside my planned activity and opened the Google Meet on my phone. With four students by my side (actually six feet from my side), and four more in the palm of my hand, we set out to see what journalism looks like in action. We found the KVUE crew in the library and my students— both in person and virtual—got to visit with reporter Kalyn Norwood about how she got started in journalism. Teachable moment No. 1.
In person and virtual, Thrall journalism students interview KVUE reporter Kalynn Norwood Monday, Aug. 10.
The rest of the day was a blur. Tuesday was the second, “first day” of school as we greeted the B-day students. Virtual Wednesday was an all-out sprint with eight back-to-back, 27-minute Google Meets. We were sent home Wednesday afternoon so the custodians could deep clean. My brain and body said it must be Friday.
Two days later, the calendar says it’s really Friday and my brain and body say it’s been quite a month since Monday. Here are my takeaways:
Juggling in-person and virtual instruction is exhausting, but even faculty who have shunned technology in the past are getting onboard. We are all learning to navigate this new world, students and teachers.
Students and teachers share many of the same thoughts and emotions. Some are very excited to be here; some are frightened. Some wish we would move faster while others fear we are moving too quickly. Some embrace the online experience more than others. Some finally have a reason to dress up while others would really rather stay in pajamas.
Thrall yearbook adviser Christina Strnad returned to the classroom in early August. Thrall was the first high school in the Austin area to go back in person. Students alternated days at schools with Wednesday slated as a virtual only day. Thrall also allowed students to be completely virtual. Photos courtesy of Christina Strnad
But what about the yearbook? Of all the things I’m stressed about, surprisingly the yearbook is not at the top of the list. I have emphasized to my staff how vital they are, especially now. I remind them this is their opportunity to record “the first rough draft of history.”
They don’t know which events will happen and which will be canceled, but they know the yearbook will be there to tell the story. They know they are not obligated to make this book look anything we have done before…they just have to tell the story.
While the unknown is daunting, my leaders say they are excited about the creative freedom: “We will get what we get.” “We’re gonna figure it out.”
My first-day adrenaline has given way to first-week exhaustion. My neatly prepared classroom is now cluttered with the 2020 yearbooks that also arrived this week. For 2020-2021, my goals are lofty yet simple, and maybe other advisers can relate: Stay healthy, be kind, publish a yearbook.
Christina Strnad is the yearbook adviser at Thrall High School in Thrall, Texas. This is her 28th year teaching and advising. Strnad advises The Tiger, which is a PK-12 yearbook, covering all three schools in Thrall ISD.
