Next week, the mask mandate is going to be lifted for WHS. Students and staff will no longer be required to wear a mask indoors or outdoors, but they may still do so if they choose. 

As expected, the school population has mixed feelings about the mandate being lifted. Many people are excited, and cannot wait to see each other’s faces again. For teachers, it can be hard to feel a connection to students when most of their faces are obscured. Spanish teacher Sra. Zolotoff is excited to see her students while they are talking. For foreign language teachers especially, not wearing masks will help them better hear and understand their students as they learn to speak a new language.

However, there are others who are more apprehensive about the return to normal. Some students have expressed that they want to keep their masks on because they don’t want to get sick at all. Some are expecting a surge in cases of colds or the flu, thinking the removal of masks will cause the rate of diseases being spread to go up. 

Juniors Anthea Goh and Taylor Hadden agreed that they plan on wearing their masks for a month after the mandate is lifted. “Enough time for everything to die down,” said Hadden. Junior Hannah Aldrich is unsure of what she will do. “I just don’t want to make other people uncomfortable if I’m not [wearing a mask]; I think I’ll wait and see how many people are still wearing theirs,” she added.

No matter your personal opinions on returning to school unmasked next week, it is important to keep in mind that everyone will be making their own decision whether or not they want to wear a mask. We ask everyone, staff and students, to be respectful of each other and their choices as our WHS community continues to transition back to normal life.