On a typical Wednesday, students are used to a school day like any other – with the exception of shortened classes, and a 30 minute break for AI, or academic intervention. However, this year is anything but typical. As a precautionary measure against the current pandemic, the Wentzville School District has devised a new hybrid schedule meant to limit contact between students. This schedule introduced Wednesday’s virtual meetings – four block scheduled classes held completely online. While most of the adjustments made due to COVID have been semi-chaotic, students have been pleasantly surprised with the flow of these classes.

Sophomore Tiffany Salas’ meetings went as expected. They were punctual, and ran without nearly any technical difficulties.

“In our meetings usually we would share things, ask questions, learn, and have fun,” Salas said.

This doesn’t mean it wasn’t strange seeing all of her classmates and teachers behind the screens.

“I learned that Virtual wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought it would be. It is so different from going to school, like the school building,” Salas said.

Senior Raed Haque had a similar experience, and is glad to have teachers providing help outside of the classroom.

“I do think these meetings are useful as we can ask teachers questions we forgot to ask during class and they even help us on certain assignments, so I have no issues,” Haque said.

Teachers share students’ optimism about the meetings, especially for the AI period.

“I thought my AI response was positive,” history teacher Ms. McFarland said. “It was nice to see each other after such a long break. I think AI is important so students can stay up to date on their class information. I am happy it takes place Wednesday rather than take away time during an in-person learning day.” 

As far as the content of these meetings go, it differs by teacher – while few plan on teaching new content, most plan to dedicate this time to review.

“I will be using my Wednesday meetings for review or catch up for students that have fallen behind,” chemistry teacher Mr. Evans said.

Of course, it’s hard to adjust to all of the changes that have come with the current school year, but it’s reassuring to know that both teachers and students acknowledge the good that can come from Wednesday meetings.