Students Pandemic Reflections

L-R Alexa Reavley; Cheryl Bielema, Project Director; Kelsey Watson; Lucas Reith; Jaydon Fleisch; Bethany Pankratz; Harold Rose, Project Director; Landon Smith and Angela Drach, Museum Studies Student and Museum Volunteer. Not pictured: Eleanor Fournier, Chloe Nelson VanMiddlesworth; Anna O’Brien, and Aurora Ridley, all students at Canton High School.

The Students Pandemic Reflections Project was undertaken by the Canton Area Heritage Center and Canton High School (CHS) history students and their teacher Harold Rose early in 2021. It coincided with the resuming of in-person classes in the Canton Union School District, following the COVID-19 shutdown of businesses and schools. During the last month of the school year in May, 2021, with the help of several more teachers, the students’ reflections project team captured the pandemic experiences of almost one-third of CHS students using online surveys.

Survey questions included:
… Compare your school activities before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
… What have you missed most during the last year?
… Have there been positive/negative experiences?
… What have you learned about yourself, your learning preferences, and life, in general?

Students volunteering for the project met to review the data from their age-mates during the summer months and determined outcomes, themes and implications for students and school leaders if the pandemic worsens or future pandemics strike.

Click below to read the Executive Summary of the research paper they wrote with the assistance of Dr. Cheryl Bielema, one of the project leaders. For more information, please contact Bielema, by emailing cahcpo19@att.net.