Finally: summer break. The air is hot, the grades are wrapping up and the students and staff at Loy Norrix are excited. While most people focus on graduation and summer break, it’s important to be able to reflect on all aspects of the school year in a way that is beneficial so people can grow and change for the better.
“I’ve had great control of my grades and made a goal to keep them up this year,” freshman Eleanor Mercadal said. “I have really been enjoying school and KAMSC in the past couple of months after I got out of the winter slump, especially with KAMSC events and time with my friends.”
Mercadal spends half her school day at the Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center, better known as KAMSC. Then, she arrives at Norrix and attends school there until 2:20. After that, she heads outside for track practice. Mercadal balances school, sports and friends while keeping a positive attitude.
Similar to Mercadal, freshman Aleksei Kokushkin also focused on balancing multiple goals during the school year.
“This year, I really wanted to not only keep my grades up, but I also wanted to meet more people and become more open-minded,” freshman Aleksei Kokushkin said. “I feel like this school year really pushed me out and I became more social.”
Goal-setting practices weren’t unique to just students: staff also set goals for this year.
“I wanted to be there for the students in-person this year,” English teacher Caroline Anderson said. “I also wanted to take time to form deeper bonds and connections with them.”
Although this has been a successful year for students and staff, there are some parts of the year that people have some issues with.
“I hate the new attendance policy,” Kokushkin said. “I got really sick for multiple weeks, and the emails from the school were really annoying.”
Students also complained about their lack of motivation.
“I got really burnt out in the middle of the year,” Mercadal said. “During the winter, I felt like I had lost all of my motivation.”
However, teachers have noted that this school year has been more positive than others.
“I’ve noticed that the hood policy has had an increase in positivity, ” Anderson said. “Not only that, but over the years, students have been more understanding and cooperative with it. It allows me to form better connections with them in a positive way.”
Anderson expressed that the phone policy also contributed to the overall positivity of this school year.
“It allows me to form a better connection with them,” Anderson said. “It’s nice to be able to form those with students nowadays. I really strive to be the best I can for them.”
