With the school year well underway, students and teachers are starting to settle into the newest addition to the schedule—Mission Mondays.

Some may say Mission Mondays are bittersweet, the sweet part being for the students and the bitter part for the teachers.

Biology and zoology teacher Mrs. Susan Mills shared her thoughts as an educator regarding Mondays. She said, “I feel like Mission Mondays are a more relaxed day since I can wear shorts and a Cathedral shirt; however, I do not get as much done for class and I am relegated to lecture only since I cannot do labs via Zoom.

“I am getting behind where I want to be, but it is not exactly hurtful. It creates more work since I have to readjust my lesson plans every week due to my getting less done than anticipated.”

English teacher Ms. Laurie O’Brien said that she likes the more relaxed part of Mission Mondays; however, the schedule which involves all classes meeting for 30 minutes each does affect work production and what can be accomplished in class.

In an email, O’Brien wrote, “I have grown to like the relaxed part of it: later start, not having to hustle to leave the house, etc. By the end of the day, I am really ready to get out of my house. In regard to work, I don’t like that we can’t get much done; it takes a day per week away, in essence. Somehow, somewhere, (students) will need to get that work in.”

O’Brien continued, saying, “I am sure students like it, and I am OK with having them a little less stress. as it has been a tough time. Academically, it is not helpful, but it is manageable, for sure. It does create more work in the sense that you know you have to post a handout, assignment, etc., as opposed to handing it out, and in some cases, they really need to have a hard copy, or at least they prefer it for annotating and note taking.

“I always feel like face-to-face teaching is more effective, and I think kids are in a better position to get help and ask questions.”