A Look Back at 2020

Making the best of an unusual situation

As we come to the close of another school year, it is certainly not what we are used to with all the end of school year activities. We all know what happened last spring, so when last summer rolled around, there was a lot of speculation, plenty of questions and much planning that had to take place to even consider coming back in-person for the 20-21 school year.

After much research, deliberation, even more planning, and a consensus of OCS administrators, the decision was made to move forward with opening school. And as mentioned, extensive preparation and planning continued all summer with the maintenance/custodial staff, food service and school staff working together to put a plan in place to ensure the safety of everyone.

While there was a lot of anxiety, worry and unknown, there was also a level of enthusiasm and excitement in the air about returning. Students, staff and parents were looking forward to being in school, especially after the NTI experience last spring caught us a little off guard. While we got through it, we know it was not very well received by students or staff and while we did learn quite a bit about online learning, nobody wanted that again for an extended period.

Unfortunately, as we began school, the enthusiasm and expectations faded pretty quickly when the reality of what was going to be required, along with what we were NOT going to get to do, set in.

Our days would include masks, dividers, distancing, but would not include schoolwide Masses, pep rallies, dances, or many other socialization opportunities. This environment, along with many other missed activities, were creating quite a bit of frustration for students and staff alike.

However, as the semester continued, a gradual change seemed to be happening among the student body. The disappointment everyone was feeling started to turn into an acceptance. It then seemed the students, especially our seniors, became more focused on making the best of the situation they were in and started figuring out things that could be done. While it wasn’t even close to being a normal year at Catholic High, it is amazing how many seniors have told me they had a GREAT year! When their focus changed to what they COULD do, it seemed their attitudes also changed and while there were still some occasional disappointments, whining and even some anger, the overall attitude of the students, especially the senior class, had moved in a positive direction. I have never been more proud to be the principal at OCHS and I have never been more proud of the way our students approached, dealt with and overcame so many obstacles to accomplish our objective of staying in school this year.

Obviously, everyone has been affected in so many ways during this past 14 months, but the students of OCHS certainly learned some valuable lessons about life. They learned how to deal with things they can’t control and how to deal with disappointment. But maybe the most important thing they learned in this YEAR

LIKE NO OTHER, is to appreciate what they did get by what many of them have told me, “We got to go to school, we got to have a senior year and we made the best of what we had been given!” ♠