Ready. Set. Stall!

Due to COVID-19, Bullitt County delayed in-person teaching and freshmen didn’t go back until Oct. 5. Up until then, freshmen had to do non-traditional instruction (NTI).

Going to school virtually flipped motivation upside down. Learning through NTI significantly impacted freshmen’s grades. Not only did NTI have an effect on their academics it had an effect on their sports.

Having to switch from in-person learning to virtual learning took a toll on everyone. Without structure and discipline it’s hard to keep up with all your work on time. Jonathan Hamlett made sure that he got his work done even when his motivation was low. “My mom kept me motivated because she kept me on top of all my school and tried her best to make sure that I didn’t have any missing assignments,” Hamlett said.

Hamlett felt that he had a lot more motivation and strives during in-person learning because he is a hands-on learner. He feels that there is a better, easier connection when he is in in-person because the environment keeps him focused. “I think NTI impacted my motivation because I was looking forward to being able to be there on the first days of school and the one thing that motivated me was the thought of going back to in-person school,” Hamlett said.

Christian Pate made it a goal to get his grades to come back up when they got back to going to in-school learning again. He struggled with getting all of his school work done on the computer because he knew that he could do it later on in the day. He usually did his school from his bed so when he saw a long assignment or an assignment that didn’t interest him he would just go back to bed. 

“Nothing really motivated me, except I didn’t want to flunk my classes that bad. Honestly, I feel that NTI was really dangerous because it kind of felt optional so it messed me up a little bit,” Pate said.

With the lack of motivation grades came down as well. Leeda Wisdom grades suffered during NTI. She struggled with her grades because she had distractions at home and a lack of motivation. Wisdom’s grades have risen as they have come back to school because she has her friends to help encourage her. “Well, if I didn’t get on a Zoom call my grades will fail no matter if I did my work or not,” Wisdom said.

Sports practices stayed the same for the majority, except for the new restrictions due to COVID. The restrictions didn’t really impact football, they had to wear masks when they couldn’t socially distance themselves. Practices still stayed at the same time, football players still had practice right after school got out. Christian Pate still made it a goal to get to every practice, whether he had to catch a ride or walk.

“It’s my first year of high school football so I knew it was going to be different and this just made it a little more different. It didn’t make me lose interest in football, I still love football!” Pate said.