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As a student who has gone to Bellwood since I was in kindergarten, I can honestly say that there is no other school system that I would have wanted to spend the past 13 years of my life in. From the small town atmosphere to the genuine care that staff has for students, Bellwood is a great place for students to get an education. 

As I look back on my years here at Bellwood, there is no other school I would have wanted to go to. Especially this past school year, Bellwood went to great lengths to make sure that we had the most normal school year we could, when just a year ago we did not know if we would even all be in the school at the same time again. 

Senior year is something you dream about your entire high school career and when the pandemic came, we did not expect to get half of the experiences that we did. Maybe students couldn’t get into every football game, but at least we had one of the best student sections in Bellwood history at the Backyard Brawl which led to a B-A victory. We went virtual after Thanksgiving, but the administration did everything they could to get us all back together again after the New Year. We didn’t even have prom last year, but this year, we not only had a prom, but also an afterglow at Lakemont. 

Bellwood puts the wants and needs of their students first, not only to make seniors’ last year in high school good, but also for younger grades. The sixth graders still got to go to camp K, despite the trip looking a little different this year. Kindergarteners still got to go on their tour of Bellwood field trip. 

No one expected this year to be normal, but we by no means had it rough. Some schools were hardly in person for two months, other schools are still fighting to even have a graduation. We were here, we are having a graduation. 

None of the things we got to do this school year would have been possible if we didn’t go to a school that had the absolute best interest of their students. For the students who went virtual, come back. They say that these are the best years of your life and you don’t want to look back and wish you did if you didn’t.  

Due to COVID-19, the Bellwood Antis School District offered a virtual learning option for students who chose to do so for the 2020-2021 school year. 

However, next school year, virtual learning is not an option and students will either need to come back to school or switch to cyber school. Many teachers and staff have expressed their hope for as many students to come back to in person learning as feel comfortable. 

“I would like to see all students return to in person learning for numerous reasons. One being the quality of education. Our teachers provide a much higher level of learning than our cyber school counterparts. You also miss out on social school experiences such as prom, just walking in the halls with friends, etc., which hold some of my fondest childhood memories. I also personally enjoy getting to see and talk to students everyday at school, so it would be nice to see some students who went virtual again in the halls,” explained superintendent Dr. Tom McInroy. 

Not only do teachers and staff want students to be back in person, but students want to be here. 

“I like being in person because I get to see my friends everyday. Without being in school, I wouldn’t have been able to spend these last few months with the people I grew up with. I also think that being in school helped everyone focus more and after being sent home during the holidays and then coming back, I think it made most people appreciate our high school experiences more,” said senior Dakota Woomer. 

Watch this video to see why more teachers and students from various grades are happy to be at school.