Throughout the covid 19 pandemic the way schools have operated has changed several times. The high schools spent a year in lockdown and the college of the redwoods still does not have a normal schedule. Throughout all of this both the teachers and students have been home. Some people loved being online and other people hated it. Covid 19 has been around for several years now However, it still feels like a new thing which is a sign of the incompetence of the people in power. For example, online learning could become a less dreaded experience if the high schools would invest in tools like Pronto and Slack that allow students to have immediate and in-depth access to teachers and their classmates. This would create an easier way to keep the students engaged and actively learning through group projects and study groups. However, it is unreasonable to expect the teachers to do this which is why schools need competent supporting staff and people to do the jobs that the teachers cant do. For example, through the pandemic, I have felt no connection to any of the counseling or support staff to help the students in a very stressful time. I am well aware that I am biased on the topic because I have several people in my life that are at high risk of covid and someone who does not have anyone at risk in their life may see this differently but it doesn’t change the facts of how dangerous covid 19 is and how we cant deceive ourselves about the truth. I interviewed my mother Wendy Riggs who teaches anatomy and physiology at CR and is teaching online. She spoke about ¨how hard it is to create community with her students¨. This was surprising because it shows her priorities are to the students and not to herself and her comfort with teaching online. This shows the priorities of the teachers when they are given adequate technology and a working support system backing up their needs. Not just making everyone follow a curriculum that does not keep the students engaged and interested in learning. CR is using Pronto to communicate with the students and according to Wendy Riggs, it is ¨easy to use and an excellent way to communicate with the students¨. However when I interviewed my father Russel Turpin his priorities were not about the students or their ability to learn, they were about how he didn’t want to go back to talking to blank screens and how much he hates having an empty classroom. So despite the danger to at-risk families, they would rather let people get sick than deal with the bad technology. This shows the importance of having a staff willing to work and invest in the technology needed by the teachers to both do a good job and still have a good teaching experience. It is appalling to think that the staff would rather deceive themselves with excuses like ¨its not really spreading at school¨ and “I cant do anything about it so there is no point” than actually working with the parents and students to find a system that works. It is unreasonable to think that we are safe and that everything is normal. this is not true because there is always something you can do. In the long run, if we don't do anything about the spread of the pandemic the virus will keep mutating and we will never reach herd immunity. However, if we can get everyone vaccinated and slow the rate of the mutations we then can think about safely and comfortably returning to normal. But the false sense of security that the people seem to have is extremely dangerous. And despite the growing number of cases in Humboldt county both students and teachers are disregarding the need to wear masks around each other. This loops back to the need for adequate information and learning tools for students and teachers. This all points to the main issue which is the unwillingness to change, even if you can't go online which I know is a legitimate issue there is always a way to make the classroom safer whether it is actually enforcing the mask policy or keeping your windows open during class there is always something the teachers and students can do to keep everyone safer in this trying time in our history.