
Isabel Russman
Isabel Russman pictured working at Atomic Coffee Bar during the hybrid model of school this fall.
As students began getting into a routine through the opening to middle months of the school year, many found themselves being able to use their off days to an advantage. Some people studied long and hard, some went to the gym, but many found themselves working at their jobs.
Some students explained that having this extra time was extremely helpful, giving them the opportunity to be more productive throughout their days.
Senior Isabel Russmann, who works at Atomic Coffee Bar, considered the hybrid model a blessing to her. “It was convenient because I could still get school work done and could work while being in sports as well,” she explained. “With the new schedule, I can only work Sunday mornings because of school every day and sports on school nights.”
In some cases, like senior Owen Belman, students are unable to work at all during the week with this change in their schedules. It got to the point where there was simply not enough time to be able to work multiple hours on top of school work and other priorities during the after school hours.
“[Work] was too much time spent at work when I could be doing more productive things and important activities to me such as going to the gym or studying for school to maintain good grades,” Belman shared.
With all of these changes for high schoolers, employers were left scrambling — only having two weeks’ notice led to quite a bit of chaos in the workplace. Employers, such as Atomic, lost a significant number of employees due to the return to school, having to fill their spots with very little time. “It was a crazy couple weeks with many of our highschool workers dropping their shifts in order to prioritize other things outside of school that came before work,” Russmann described.
There was little to no time to prepare for this massive change that left highschool workers in a tough spot. As of now, there are many people wishing to go hybrid at Pleasant Valley high school. Should the district take a second look at their decisions?