OAK HILL, WV (WOAY) – It’s out of the car, off the bus and into school as Fayette County students return to the classroom for the new year.
Here, we see Samiah Lynch heading into Oak Hill High School for the start of her senior year.
“I’m really excited for this school year, because this is a great school,” Lynch said. “We love our teachers. We have good staff.”
After balancing in person and remote learning last year, teachers are thankful to have their students in the building as the semester gets underway.
“We learned a lot last year,” said Oak Hill High School Math Teacher Kristen Shannon. “If we have to go back to that, we’re prepared. But, it’s a lot easier to do our jobs when we get to know our kids better.”
Fayette County is requiring facemasks in all schools for the first two weeks of the year. After that, it’s up to the color coding map and how COVID-19 spreads in individual schools that will determine if the masks stay or go.
“We have to look at the positive,” said Fayette County Schools’ Superintendent Gary Hough. “We have our students back in school. Our extra-curricular activities are proceeding. It’s a good day.”
The threat of the Delta variant is looming over Fayette County. Hough and Lynch are both confident in the county’s mask policy and are hopeful for a great start to the year.
“You have to do what you have to do,” Lynch said. “So, I mean, you can’t really do anything about it.”
