Editorial: The Online Student

By Lucas Walters

As people around the world try to acclimate to a new “normal”, questions sometimes swirl through our heads, even throughout times that used to be relaxing. It’s a stressful time to say the least. With that, one might assume that interpersonal conflict would abound as people become more irritable with the stress of the situation. It seems, however, as if a different dynamic is beginning to materialize.

Upon interviewing a few Upper School students here at Oak Hall, I noticed an odd detail. The goal of interviewing these students was to be able to gauge attitudes surrounding online learning and in-person learning. In seeking this information, I came to the realization that none of the people I had talked to describe their experience — online or otherwise — as bad. It’s true that during the conversation, they talked of improvements that could be made. For example, many students expressed concerns about the internet connection quality at the school, and the unreliability of the video cameras teachers are using. Those same students also expressed annoyance with the issue of low video quality that makes it hard to see what’s on the board. But for every person that I spoke with, these remarks were prefaced and/or followed by lenience, kindness, and understanding that this situation is a difficult one to navigate.

It seems clear to me that there is a very particular attitude that is emerging. An attitude that is common to a large majority of all of the students. It’s an attitude of lenience, and ability to work with others to try and make the best out of a tough situation. No one that I spoke with told me that everything was going perfectly. Most said that things were going “pretty well” and acknowledged the problems we are currently facing. Issues with device connectivity, choice of online platforms, video quality, and many others were all mentioned. Nobody told me that this meant that the school was responding poorly to the situation, nor that they were responding poorly. 

I also took some time to talk to some of the Upper School teachers and get their thoughts regarding the in-person versus online learning dichotomy. These teachers echoed similar concerns as the students, but they were able to extrapolate further on many of the concerns, given that they have a larger pool of students that they hear from regularly. For example, Upper School Spanish teacher Libby Karow noted that many of her students were having “[i]ssues of WiFi quality, connectivity, ability to access some documents,” she said. In addition, Krystal Serrano, Upper School Spanish teacher, mentioned that some of her students were having a “tough time hearing the other students or with the technology glitches that come with doing all classes online.” I feel that many teachers, especially those I spoke with, will be happy to hear the general consensus of lenience and understanding from the student perspective, as many teachers seem to value this response more than the students realize. Upper School history teacher Charles Wharton has faith in the student’s ability and resilience to overcome the hardships they are facing. “Hopefully, [the students] can continue to push through the challenges, as well as have patience with us teachers,” he said. “For teachers, it is not easy to try and connect with both in-person and online students as well as do additional tasks like cleaning desks and supervising lunch or morning duty sometimes,” Wharton continued.

In summary, issues with technology notwithstanding, there is a positive and constructive mood pervading the Oak Hall community, even though times are difficult. “All students still seem to be focused on trying to reach their full potential — I have been impressed by how hard my students are working this year and appreciate their strong efforts,” Wharton noted. Clearly, students remain committed to doing the best they can, as do teachers. Karrow expanded on Wharton’s positive outlook. “It is all possible, it just takes effort, patience, and commitment to make the experience as good as it can be for everyone no matter where they are sitting.”

Senior Athlete Spotlight: Ani Gogineni

In an effort to make this year special for Oak Hall’s senior athletes, we created A-Z questions for them to answer. We hope you enjoy!

Senior Athlete Spotlight: Ani Gogineni

By Jenna Poppell

Ani Gogineni is a member of Oak Hall’s Varsity Swimming Team!

A –  Advice you’d give your freshman-self? Be yourself.
B – Best pre-race meal? Pasta.
C – Coach’s best words of advice? Soar like an eagle.
D – Favorite dessert? Brownie.
E – Most entertaining practice? Fun Fridays.
F – Favorite high school athletic moment? Regionals last year.
G – Goals for your senior season? Drop time.
H – Hoping to attend (which college)? U. Chicago (University of Chicago).
I – Interesting thing about you away from swimming? I like movies.
J – Favorite joke? I don’t have a favorite joke. All buildings matter, okay that’s kind of political though.
K – Keys to maintaining homework? Just getting it a little bit done the day it’s assigned.
L – Least favorite practice drill? I hate the butterfly drill, it’s harder than the actual stroke.
M – Music you listen to? I like Beach House.
N – Netflix or Hulu? Netflix.
O – Outside hobbies (other than swimming)? Longboarding.
P – Preparations for a big meet include? A lot of Gatorade.
Q – Question you would ask your future self? “Did we get any taller?”
R – Most relaxing part of your day? Taking a nap after school.
S – What would your senior superlative be? “Most emo”, I don’t know.
T – Favorite TV show? Madmen.
U – Most underrated pet? I like cats, but they’re not underrated.
V – Favorite vacation spot? I don’t really have one.
W – What does it mean to you to be an Eagle? It means the sky’s the limit
X – Any X-rays? X-rays? Have I had an x-ray taken of me? I got my arm x-rayed.. I broke my arm.
Y – Your impact to the younger athletes on the team? I hope my effort in practice sets an example.
Z – Favorite zoo animal? Zoo animal? I don’t like zoos in general.

Senior Athlete Spotlight: Gabby Aulisio

In an effort to make this year special for Oak Hall’s senior athletes, we created A-Z questions for them to answer. We hope you enjoy!

Senior Athlete Spotlight: Gabby Aulisio

By Elle Storoe

Gabby Aulisio is a member of Oak Hall’s Varsity Cross Country Team!

A – Advice you’d give your freshman-self?  The advice i would give to my freshman self would be to run cross country, because I didn’t start that till junior year, but I wish I had earlier.
B – Best pre-game meal? The best pre-game meal is a peanut butter sandwich.
C – Coach’s best words of advice? Coach’s best words of advice are to “Go catch that girl”.
D – Favorite dessert? My favorite dessert is a Pizooki from BJs.
E – Most entertaining practice? Most entertaining practice is “World Cup” with the soccer girls, and Coach Wharton in goal, because he’s a really good goal keeper.
F – Favorite high school athletic moment? Favorite high school athletic moment is when Adel and I could not stop laughing during our soccer district championship game!
G – Goals for your senior season? My goal for this season is to break 19:30 (19 minutes and 30 seconds in a race)
H – Hoping to attend (which college)? I’m hoping to attend UF.
I – Interesting thing about you away from cross country? The most interesting thing about me away from cross country is that I like to play piano.
J – Favorite joke? My favorite joke is that “running is fun”!
K – Keys to maintaining homework? The keys to maintaining homework are to not procrastinate and to just get it done when you get it assigned.
L – Least favorite practice drill? My least favorite drill is passing lines cause those are very boring.
M – Music you listen to? I listen to pop-rock
N  – Netflix or Hulu?  Netflix is definitely better.
O – Outside hobbies (other than your sport)? Outside of sports, I like to read and play with my dogs.
P – Preparations for a big race include? Preparations for a big race are definitely Tiger Balm and Bio Freeze, very helpful.
Q – Question you would ask your future self?  I would definitely ask my future self which college I’m going to, because that’s important to know!
R – Most relaxing part of your day? The most relaxing part of my day, honestly, is running, which sounds crazy but it’s true.
S – What would your senior superlative be? I don’t know, probably worst artist!
T – Favorite TV show? My favorite tv show is “Seinfeld”.
U – Most underrated pet? The most underrated pet probably is a chameleon.
V – Favorite vacation spot? My favorite vacation spot is Montana. 
W – What does it mean to you to be an Eagle? Being an eagle means being in a tight family and just being nice to everyone.
X – Any X-rays? Yes, I hairline fractured my ankle a while ago.
Y – Your impact to the younger athletes on the team? As soccer captain, I like to think I had a pretty big impact of the younger athletes, just because I had to mentor them and teach them how to play soccer. So hopefully, I was a good mentor.
Z – Favorite zoo animal? My favorite zoo animal is a pangolin.

OHS Libraries Adjust With Online Book Check Out

By Jenna Poppell

Because of COVID-19, the sense of normalcy at Oak Hall School has changed, including how the libraries on campus do business. Oak Hall’s online library catalog has been in place for some time, but there hasn’t been much of a need to utilize some of its features until this year. The website has become a great way to safely check out books and quickly access material. 

Evelyn Smith, the Middle and Upper School Media Specialist, says the online library is not only beneficial for students interested in listening to an audiobook and reading, but has many helpful databases such as World Book Online, EBSCO, and JSTOR. The databases aid students in any research for projects, or articles they may need for class. This is a very convenient change from the card catalog, where books once had to be looked up by the author or title on small pieces of paper. 

Good bye card catalog…hello technology!

In addition, print books can also be checked out from either the Lower or Upper School library. After a student puts a book on hold through the online library, it is checked out and delivered to one of the student’s classes or is available for curbside pick-up. The library is taking strict precautions to ensure the safety of all Oak Hall students eager to read. Smith noted that the Lower and Upper School libraries worked together with Oak Hall’s Re-Entry Committee to develop the current library policies and are being updated as the COVID-19 science evolves, and more research is done. “Print books can safely be checked out, but they need to be quarantined for a minimum of 72 hours to a maximum of six days after they are returned, depending on how they are stored while in quarantine,” stated Smith. 

To access the online library catalog, please click here!

The OHS online library home screen

Senior Athlete Spotlight: Shayne Ryan

In an effort to make this year special for Oak Hall’s senior athletes, we created A-Z questions for them to answer. We hope you enjoy!

Senior Athlete Spotlight: Shayne Ryan

By Shailey Klein

Shayne Ryan is a member of Oak Hall’s Varsity Swim Team!

A – Advice you would give your freshman-self? Study more.
B – Best pre-meet meal? Granola bar.
C – Coach’s best words of advice? Try not to breathe.
D – Dessert? Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.
E – Entertaining practice? Julian [Sanchez] at his first swim practice.
F – Favorite high school athletic moment? Beating Buchholz my sophomore year.
G – Goals for your senior season? Trying to make regionals.
H – Happiest day of your life? Beating Buchholz my freshman year.
I – Interesting thing about you away from swimming? I like to surf.
J – Joker on the team? Julian [Sanchez].
K – Keys to balancing school and sports workload? Try to get your school stuff done during free period.
L – Least favorite part of practice? Swimming.
M – Music you listen to? Country, rap, and reggae.
N – Netflix or Hulu? Hulu.
O – Other sports? Lacrosse.
P – Preparation for a big game/meet? Listening to music, getting my head in the game.
Q – Question you would ask your future self? Will you still be surfing?
R – Relaxing part of your day? Lunch and free period.
S – Superstitions? Hold your breath going past a graveyard, lift your legs up when you’re going over a bridge, and I have to do my warmup before every game.
T – TV Show? Outer Banks.
U – Underrated pet? Tiger.
V – Vacation spot? Panama City.
W – What does it mean to you to be an Eagle? To be a student-athlete and a scholar.
X – X-rays? Probably five.
Y – Your impact on younger athletes on the team? Try to guide them and help them while they’re young.
Z – Zoo animal? Giraffe.