Students enjoy the freedom of virtual academy learning

The hybrid start to school has been something very strange and new for all of us, but we’re happy to simply be back in school part time. However, for some North students, they do not spend their days working on the same assignments as we do in and out of school. Over 100 students chose to do virtual academy for at least the first semester of school. This is where they are completely online, and registered through the North Dakota Center for Distance Education (NDCDE). So they have different teachers, and different assignments. However, they still are allowed to come into school for extracurricular activities.
“I really like online school and still participating in activities at North. If I was unable to do activities I wouldn’t have even considered virtual,” said senior Sophie Thompson.
Thompson chose to do virtual academy this school year, because she wanted consistency in her school day, and knew she wouldn’t be able to have that this year at Fargo North. NDCDE also has lots of new electives for her to take that are more geared towards figuring out her future career. Another plus is she can have a job during the day, and still be able to get her work done in a timely manner.
“It’s nice being able to work at my own pace and do school anytime during the day. It’s also nice that some of my friends have school at the beginning of the week, and some do at the end so I get to hangout with them pretty often,” said Thompson.
Even though she still gets to see friends and do school the way she wants, she misses seeing all the Fargo North teachers and in-person interactions.
“There’s nothing like sitting in Christensen’s class and getting roasted, or Erickson’s funny stories or even Volk’s puns,” said Thompson.
Thompson hopes to return to Fargo North second semester, but if school is still not 100% in person she will finish out the year with virtual academy.
Senior Alex Torreson is also a virtual academy student. He chose virtual academy, because his mom wasn’t comfortable with him going back in person as cases were still increasing. Torreson is signed up for virtual academy first semester, and hopes to return to in person school second semester.
“We’re not sure yet [about in person school] as things are always changing. I hope to be back in the second semester, but to be honest it doesn’t look likely sadly,” Torreson said.
He enjoys having the freedom to create his daily school schedule, but misses seeing his friends everyday. Thankfully technology exists, so he still can communicate with them, but it’s definitely not the same as being in-person. Torreson also dislikes how the assignments are all very similar to each other.
“It gets really repetitive. Every assignment is essentially the same which makes it hard to stay motivated sometimes,” said Torreson.
Junior Monique Matthews chose to do virtual academy, and is loving the benefits of it. She feels her educational environment has improved, as she can now do things at her own pace. Each week she gets assigned work to do, and every assignment must be done within a certain amount of time. Despite not being in school and seeing her classmates daily, she feels virtual academy has given her more of a social life.
“It made me have more of a social life, because it’s more efficient time management wise,” said Matthews.
Overall, students in virtual academy chose this route for a variety of reasons to fit their current needs. Though they all miss in-person interactions with Fargo North teachers and students, they enjoy working at their own pace and on their own schedule. Hopefully all will return to a new normal this spring, so they can come back and see all their classmates before the end of the school year.