Watford City seniors ready to return to the classroom
By Ashleigh Plemper
Farmer Staff Writer
After COVID-19 brought schools throughout the state to a standstill last spring, Watford City High School (W.C.H.S.) is gearing up for its reopening on Sept. 8. As students and staff members adhere to the latest social distancing measures being implemented by the McKenzie County Public School District No. 1, many students are thrilled to be back. But they feel conflicted over whether the reopening will be followed by a second COVID-19 outbreak, bringing with it, another school closure in its wake.
As students and staff wonder what to expect, school as they once knew it will have changed forever.
“At any moment we can be shut down again just like we did in the spring of last year,” says Jim Green, W.C.H.S. principal.
For Skylar Bennett, a W.C.H.S. senior, she’s trying to be optimistic over what her final year of high school will hold. But she says being optimistic is a continuous struggle.
“It kind of makes me cringe when I think about school. But I’m going to make the best of it,” says Bennett.
As the highly ambitious cheerleader received news of the school closure last year, she says she instantly felt robbed of many opportunities she had been striving for.
“I’m involved in like eight different things so it was like oh my gosh, everything is canceled,” says Bennett.
As most students would strive to make up for lost time, Bennett says that option was not in the cards for her.