The first day of high school can be an uplifting experience incoming freshmen look forward to as soon as they finish their final year of middle school. But sadly the traditional Ignition Program was stripped away from them due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Although freshmen did get to experience Ignition, they didn’t get the whole “first day” experience. With Covid-19 came several disadvantages for the incoming class such as no orientation at the end of eighth grade and having to jump into a handful of changes in the school. 

“The first day was fun and I still had a great time with Ignition, but some of the new rules were hard to adjust to,” freshman Oliva Wells said. “One of my biggest struggles is counterclockwise walking in the halls because if I miss my class I have to walk all the way around.” 

The current sophomores had more advantages than the freshman did, including the Ignition experience and not having to deal with the new protocols. 

“It was weird seeing the lunch tables have screens on them, which made it hard to hear and talk to people,” freshman Kaden Clark stated. “Wearing a mask is difficult to breath with and becomes tiring. Getting to classes is hard too because if I accidently miss my class I have to walk all the way around to get there.” 

If the first day wasn’t hard enough for the freshman, they didn’t get the traditional orientation near the end of eighth grade.

The current sophomores’ first day was different than the new freshmen. Ignition basics were the same this year as the last but didn’t have limitations that included wearing masks and social distancing.

With the freshmen this year most problems were with the limitations and rules. For example, the opening assembly was conducted in the football bleachers with students demonstrating social distancing. Normally this would have taken place in the auditorium. 

Wells and Clark said the biggest issues were with the school’s new rules resulting from the pandemic, but the limitations didn’t have a major impact on the first day experience or the ability to see friends and learn in class.