VIRGINIA BEACH, VA – Do you remember the squeeze in your gut from going back to school? The angst behind not being in the same classes as your friends. The savor after passing by the cafeteria. The goosebumps from seeing the new girl for the first time. Getting a good education isn’t easy for anyone. However, I personally feel as if my basic skills in approaching other humans came from all the interactions I had there. Needless to say, in part, it’s thanks to school for the result of who I am today. But things have been a little more bizarre this semester.

Particularly, in Virginia Beach.

Nine-thousand two-hundred students entered classrooms today as a result of parents opting for in-person instruction. Up until now, the popular option was everybody’s quarantine darling, Zoom.

Yet, since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the video conference platform has garnered a huge interest. All over the world, Zoom has been connecting employer to employee, husband to wife, student to teacher. Unfortunately, the latter has worn parents’ wits dry. So the return to institutionalized buildings has been much enjoyed, though some individuals still express caution.

Never fear. Superintendent Doctor Aaron Spence is here. Regarding the first day of lessons, “I would attribute that to the hard work of teachers.”

Of course, that hard work being encouraging children to keep their masks on and to maintain a healthy distance. Which for the most part has been a success. And though there was a case of Corona Virus at Birdneck Elementary School, W.T. Cooke Elementary seems to be doing just fine.

And remember that wretched gut feeling I was telling you about before? Well, though stakes are high, students and teachers alike felt thrilled to return to their natural habitat. It just feels right to be among pupils and professors and plexiglass, oh, my!