Hi everyone, my name is Rachel Mertz and I’m a Junior at South Lyon High School. I am concerned about the way our county has chosen to handle the recent events that have occurred.

On Tuesday, November 30, 11 people were shot and injured at Oxford High School, 4 of which died. Hana St. Juliana, Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, and Justin Shilling. This event happened only 1 hour away from our school and it’s definitely shaken up many of our students. Our school had Thursday, 12/2 and Friday, 12/3 off. On Monday, 12/6, we were sent to school without any knowledge of what our schools were doing to ensure the safety of our students and teachers. 

I am proposing that we take these 2 weeks before Winter Break and use it as a chance for students to process the situation while participating in school virtually. Mental health must be accounted for when something like this happens. As teenagers, our minds are still growing and we need to have the time to absorb everything that is going on in our lives right now. Although in person learning is the best way for students to retain information, it is not the most ideal when you have students who are afraid of even coming to school.