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Page 1: Changes Abound

Page 1 Oct. 7 Panther's Tale

Covid-19 has changed DHS dramatically.

All students and staff are required to wear masks in the building, thanks to Covid.

There are 1,600 students at DHS wearing masks while walking in the hallways during passing periods. 

The halls and stairways are crowded, everyone bumping into each other. Students walking on the wrong side of the hallway. However, considering how many students there are in the hallways, hurrying to get to classes, it’s almost impossible to follow the rules of walking on the right side of the hallway. 

The expectation is all students and staff wear masks at all times — except during meals — due to Covid-19. Most accept it.

“I don’t like wearing the masks, but I know it is a requirement. So I try not to let it bother me,” senior Bailey Sundquist said. 

Junior Gavriella Perryman doesn’t mind, either. 

“I know it’s potentially saving lives by being safe,” she said. “I like wearing masks so I don’t have to wear makeup but it’s annoying for choir.”

It can be difficult to breathe with a mask, it’s often uncomfortable, hurts one’s ears. And as anyone who wears glasses will tell you, they fog up all the time.

“I think they’re all right, but for me personally, it’s irritating with glasses because they always fog up,” senior Hayden Smith said. “And I’m always having to constantly readjust and, overall, it’s kind of inconvenient. But if that’s what it takes to do in-person school, then I can live with it,” he said. 

It may get hot and sweaty when wearing masks, however some struggle with maskne. “My chin breaks out sometimes,” said senior Marrissa Layton. 

There’s other ways students are protected.

In some classes, teachers spread out desks so students social distance. In other classes, there’s no room, so students still sit next to each other. 

Teachers are required to wipe down and sanitize all desks for the next class of students. 

But some students don’t even wear their masks. Others wear the mask but don’t cover their nose. 

“Most students wear their masks correctly but I usually find at least two kids per block that I have to remind to adjust over their nose or to pull back up on their face entirely,” Natalie Brown said about some of the students she teaches in class. 

Masks hide many of our features, so when you meet someone new, do you actually know what they really look like? 

Students are still finding ways to show their personality, even though masks hide their smiles or frowns.

Some wear cute designer masks, others wear surgical masks. There are even some, such as athletes, who wear neck gaiters. 

“I think it’s more comfortable to be honest,” Smith said of gaiters. 

Who knows how long Corona will last and for how long we have to wear masks in public. 

Junior Haley Brown always seems to have cute masks.

“I do usually try to match my masks with my clothes sometimes. It depends,” said Brown. 

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“I don’t really mind the mask, but it does get hot by the end of the day,” said junior Haley Brown. 

“I think they’re good to keep us safe, but very annoying because it’s hard to breathe at times, it also gets hot and sweaty and hard to see what people are saying,” said senior Sophia Lawson. 

“Where I am at school it’s honestly not even that bad except for when you’re singing because sometimes you breathe in your mask, but I honestly don’t mind it because it keeps people safe and it shouldn’t be a problem,” junior Chianne O’Beirne said. 

“They’re just really uncomfortable, but I wear them because we have to, but I don’t like wearing them,” senior Tim Henriques said.