Once upon a time, students went to school each day where they learned their lessons on arithmetic, English and history.

They smiled, they enjoyed recess and they always seemed to thumb their nose at school lunches. Their biggest worry seemed to be whether they would get asked to the school prom and elementary students would color lots of pictures that parents and grandparents would stick on the refrigerator.

I sure do miss those days.

My daughter-in-law is a high school teacher in Ohio. There are students she had as sophomores who are now seniors that she has not seen without a mask. Missing in the interaction between student and teacher are the smiles and facial emotions.

And those colored pictures for the refrigerator that students are asked to draw of themselves in the classroom? The pictures still are cute as Christmas for Mom, Dad and the grandparents, but seeing the child in the picture wearing a mask kind of adds a sad reality to this popular snapshot in time.

In today’s world, students wonder whether they can go to school for an entire week, let alone a month, without having to quarantine. School officials scamper for subs and teacher replacements, bus drivers and custodial staff, but the help that they so desperately need can’t be found.

It feels most weeks like students are again just a day away from remote learning. And for a region that doesn’t have 100% broadband coverage for every student, such a learning experience can be a disaster.

To mask or not to mask. To vaccinate or not to vaccinate. To get a vaccination booster or not. It all is enough to make heads spin and families throw up their arms in frustration over what is happening today.

Our students, teachers, officials and support staff really need our prayers these days.

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And then there is change – a word most of us struggle with. Word came down the pike recently that members of the Saginaw Valley League have officially accepted Traverse City West and Traverse City Central into their football conference beginning next year.

Both schools were in the Big North Conference and were regular Alpena foes. At this time, the move only impacts football, but that also could eventually change as well.

All of which only makes scheduling for Big North athletic directors all the harder. When you have schools like Alpena already traveling hours to play opponents, moves like this make scheduling similar sized opponents all the more difficult.

I understand the Traverse City Schools’ decision and believe it makes good sense for them.

I just hope we can develop rivalries with other schools moving forward that can match the level of those we enjoyed with T.C.

Bill Speer recently retired as the publisher and editor of The News. He can be reached at bspeer@thealpenanews.com.