Last year, following March 13th, the last day of full in-person schooling, the students received a default pass for the second semester because the teachers weren’t well-equipped to teach online and the students couldn’t adjust to such a rough transition in their learning.  Seniors’ graduation was threatened, kids were just neglecting school entirely, teachers were trying their best to accommodate through completely unprecedented situations while trying to simultaneously handle their home life, etc.  

Due to the lack of preparation, the district allowed the students to receive a default pass - students with A, B, or C would receive that grade on their records, and those that received D or F would still be given credit, so essentially a no-fail system.

As a senior at Marina High School, my ability to graduate this year is being threatened due to circumstances that I was never required to prepare for.  I, along with many, many other students, can’t function well in an online environment.  I can’t focus at home due to not having a proper work setting, not having much support for my already weak work ethic, and so many at-home, non-preventable  distractions.  I’ve always personally excelled in class work, but struggled with homework, as my house is not quite work friendly, my brain just doesn’t interpret my home to be somewhere for work.  Normally, I would take advantage of the school’s utilities, like doing my homework in the library after school, attending free tutoring sessions offered by teachers, and having a teacher physically present to help me want to work in class.  Now that school is entirely online, all of my work is homework, and it’s extremely difficult for me to try and work and succeed at this.  I currently attend Marina with the hybrid model, going to in-person instruction on Thursdays and Fridays, and have noticed a significant increase in my level of productivity, self-esteem, and motivation.  I’m aware that full in-person class is entirely impossible at this point in time, and possibly for the foreseeable future of this school year, but I’m not personally well-equipped for the environment I’m being asked to be in and am having to pay the price for failing at something I was never built or trained to succeed at.  It’s incredibly disheartening, most days I can barely bring myself to get out of bed, and most days that I attend Zoom classes, I don’t - I lay there with my camera and microphone off, trying to absorb information in this unfamiliar format.  I’ve lost all joy I once had in my electives, any type of in-class friendships to get me through this are impossible, and the teachers, no matter how hard they try, seem to be struggling with student engagement in an environment like this.

Situations like mine aren’t uncommon at all, and I’d wager that it’s in the majority.  This “solution” isn’t working.

Not being able to work in an online environment shouldn’t be the fault of the student, shouldn’t stop them from graduating or cost them significant amounts of credits, because this situation was one that students were entirely unprepared and untrained for.  We’re facing the same issues we had last year during our second semester, the one we received a default pass for, yet we’re being asked to function as if everything is alright. It clearly isn’t.

All I’m asking for is an ounce of empathy from the higher ups; for students, for teachers, and other work personnel present at Marina High School.  Working like this and expecting the same exemplary results is an uphill battle and is hurting everyone involved.  Please instill a similar no-fail system to the one that was given second semester of last year to counter the same issues.

Thank you for reading, much love,

Dehvyn Vuong