As virtual school endures, some students have gotten creative with how and where they learn these days. Taking advantage of remote learning, many North Atlanta learners are ditching their home office for someplace more fun and scenic. With this year’s school supplies only being a computer, doing school from anywhere in the world has never been easier or more convenient. Traveling far and wide, with destinations ranging from a friend’s house all the way to the beach, many students are definitely making the most of Zoom school.

When APS announced over the summer that school would begin virtually, many students were bummed. Initially, all that they could see were the cons of virtual school. No friends, no building, no fun school events, just seven hours in front of a computer screen, five days a week. However, as the year progressed, students slowly began to warm up to the virtual environment and eventually noticed the pros along with the cons. One of those pros being that school could be done from basically anywhere; your home, an office, maybe even a friend’s house. Many Dubs were quick to question, why do school alone at home when you can do it with friends? “I do school at a friend’s house every Wednesday,” said sophomore Liza Fagin. “It is such a fun way to keep up the social aspect of in-person school. Even though we aren’t sitting in classrooms next to our friends, this is the next best thing.”

Some Dubs decided to take it up a notch by doing school while on vacation. The ability to do school remotely has allowed for a lot more family vacations during the school year. In normal times, being on vacation during school meant lots of makeup assignments and unexcused absences. Now students can go on as many vacations as they want and never miss a lesson. Students can simply log onto Zoom from their vacation destination. “Doing school while at the lake was super fun,” said sophomore Maddie Hawkins, who had it her habit to tackle classes during Term 1 while at her family’s lake house in North Georgia at Lake Burton. “During lunch I could go eat on the dock or even go tubing! The second that school ended I would run back outside to jump in the lake.” 

Freshman Maddox Wade is one who had an opportunity to take her remote-school learning to trans-continental length during Term of this school year. For a 4 week stretch, from October 2nd to the 29th she was with her family in Pray, Montana, where the family traveled to enjoy a quasi-family vacation. Montana, which is on the Central Time Zone, is two hours behind Georgia. That means for her Period 1 Journalism 1 class, Wade had to get up extra early. An 8:50 Zoom check in time meant a 6:50 check in time for her. “But it was great because when you’re home you certainly don’t get to enjoy incredible Western sunrises,” she said.

While 2020 has brought a lot of unforeseen and unwanted change, not all has been bad. One change being more vacations, which is rarely something that can be complained about. NAHS students are definitely taking advantage of virtual learning every chance they get. Whether they are at a friend’s house, the beach, the lake, or some other glamorous destination, the Dubs are continuing to do school in style.