BHS Seniors Begin School Year Virtually

Senior Peyton Richardson opened her laptop and attended her first class of the school year, IB Economics, through Microsoft Teams. 

Richardson is one of 790 seniors at Bellaire High School whose last first day of high school started online. In 2017, freshman year was pushed back a month after Hurricane Harvey flooded Houston. Now, three years later, the senior class begins their senior year virtually in the midst of a global pandemic.

“I am kind of sad not to spend my last year completely in school,” Richardson said. “Being online definitely gives me more flexibility throughout my day, but not being able to see all my friends at school makes the day a lot more boring.”

For senior Olivia Cooper, online school makes learning harder.

“I am a student that learns better in person while collaborating with other students,” Cooper said. “Although online has the feature to work in small groups, it is just not the same as it would be in person. Either way, we all have to adapt, but I look forward to attending school in person when the time comes.”

As an underclassman, senior Andrew Weiner anticipated the senior year festivities.

“I was really looking forward to my senior year, because I thought it would be really fun,” Weiner said. “With school starting online I feel like senior year isn’t as special as it should’ve been.”

Social distancing measures have affected extracurricular activities such as sports. Richardson enters her fourth year on the lacrosse team as president this season, and her third year on the yearbook staff as Editor-in-Chief.

“We have not heard from our district about regulations for playing lacrosse, so we have not been able to start practicing in person even though we normally do in mid-August. We are planning to start virtual workouts soon but we haven’t started anything yet,” Richardson said. “For the yearbook, we have been able to do everything almost as normal so far. It is different not working in person with one another but we have been creative with new ways to cover content.”

Cooper enters her fourth year on the soccer team this year.

“It is extremely different to have a sport that is done outside and to move it virtually,” Cooper said. “Throughout the summer, the women’s soccer team has had workouts where we have had to complete separately or in groups.”

Richardson looks forward to second semester events.

“Although the year is starting off extremely weird, I am optimistic that we will eventually be back to school together,” Richardson said. “I hope that we will still be able to have events like Mr. Bellaire and Prom.”

Ultimately, Cooper is optimistic about her senior year.

“I am expecting to take advantage of what events there will be this year for the senior class,” Cooper said. “I am hoping to attend school in person after the first 6 weeks and return to an almost complete normal semester for the second semester. These are high hopes but I am confident that there will be some normalcy. I am looking forward to discovering what college I decide to attend. I am hoping that there will be a Prom this year, as well as a full soccer season.”