Before the start of online school, my peers and I seemed to be better overall. We were in our normal learning environment which was something we were used to for a very long time. However when the Covid-19 pandemic hit our entire school began to shift into something we had not experienced before.

     Starting the new school year is extremely difficult for many students. With a rise in poor mental health in myself as well as others around me, I can say from personal experience that it is hard to do simple things in my day because I am so stressed and anxious all the time that I’m experiencing other health problems. Not to mention the other stressors from students' personal lives out of school. We’re expected to do it as well as we did with in person learning over a computer screen. We’re expected to perform the same and if not even better because we’re working from home because it’s looked at as easier when it’s really not. There comes a point when the workload is just too much and students break down from all the pressure.

     I propose that Lodi Unified School District disregard the poor grades for the year of 2020-2021 for students who didn’t perform as well as they could’ve and instead help us in a time of need where we need help the most. I’m asking for the district to kindly consider a similar situation like last year. Grading that would not harm students' grades but could only benefit them to alleviate some of the stress we’re all feeling. I believe expectations for students who are used to being in an in person learning environment and are forced to learn school from home are ridiculous and we should not be held accountable for a situation that we could not control.