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While many students are staying home to protect their health, some students at NS are doing remote learning to keep their sports seasons going.
At the beginning of the season, the football team was having one of the best years on record, winning their first six games. Then COVID-19 hit.
During week 7, with the Juab rival game fast approaching, multiple players had to be quarantined due to exposure to the virus. Because of this, some players have switched over to remote learning,
Though not many students are doing this, senior wide receiver, Brady Jacobson, and junior quarterback, Landon Bowles, are both using remote learning to their advantage to lower their risk of exposure. While some people are doing this to protect themselves or family members, these two are doing it to protect their football season.
“A big part of it was that we didn’t want to have a chance of being quarantined and then be out for football,” Bowles said.
Although Bowles still has another year to play after this season, this is Jacobson’s final season, which makes the threat of being quarantined even bigger.
“I don’t want my season put on the line,” Jacobson said. “When a whole bunch of people got quarantined, they couldn’t play. I would just rather play it safe and be able to play and not risk the chance of being quarantined.”
Because Jacobson has so much on the line, he feels strongly about doing remote learning to be able to continue playing.
“I can guarantee the finish of me finishing the season because it’s my senior year, and I wouldn’t want to miss two weeks because of a virus,” Jacobson said. “I want to play.”
Because the football team has already had experience with high stake playoff games, they are better prepared for state.
“One of the perks of this team is that there are a bunch of players that have been a part of playoff runs and know what to expect in the playoffs,” said head football coach Rhett Bird, “so I would say they know what they need to do and are preparing themselves for what needs to take place to give us an opportunity every week.”
Not only is the football team able to better prepare, they are also able to have confidence in their capabilities.
“Most definitely this team is capable of playing for a state title, but every other team believes the same thing, so we have to take it one game at a time and focus on the team we have right in front of us,” Bird said.
Because everyone is on the same page and focused on the same goal, they are all able to trust each other.
“I know we can win it because the team is willing to do anything to win,” Jacobson said. “We all want to win so bad and we are all on the same page. We have a brotherhood that can’t be broken. We care for each other [and] we have each other’s back, so I don’t think anybody can take that from us.”
Besides having a better chance of taking state, doing remote learning lowers the risk of exposure to COVID-19, which is a huge help for students, but it can have other benefits too.
“It’s just more convenient for me, and easier because I can go to work and do other things after my homework and then go to practice,” Bowles said. “I feel like I can get more done.”
While doing remote learning can be pretty simple, it isn’t always enjoyable.
“It can get pretty boring,” Bowles said. “I just do homework all morning and then if I have time before practice, I’ll go to work. So it’s just a pretty basic routine.”
Though remote learning has its pros and cons, many people would say that coming to school is the best thing for students to do.
“I would say that it would be in their best interest to be at school with their friends and learning in a classroom setting,” Bird said.
Bird also acknowledges that sometimes remote learning can be helpful for different families and different situations.
“I think it’s most important that kids are in school, just because you can’t get the same learning in remote learning and so academics are number one for us,” Bird said. “I believe that kids should be in school if they can, but I think remote learning has its benefits with what’s going on right now. If there are other circumstances or maybe someone in the household [is at risk], then absolutely I think that that could be a huge benefit to one of our athletes and their family.”
To Bird, being in school is a top priority, with sports coming second, but some players feel as if they can prioritize both school and sports by doing remote learning.
“Playing football is really fun to me, and it means a lot to me and I know that I can learn just as much being home,” Jacobson said.
