PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia high school seniors are looking back at the lessons in resilience they learned during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several members of the class of 2022 joined outgoing School District of Philadelphia Superintendent William Hite’s final news conference Thursday at the High School for Creative and Performing Arts in South Philadelphia.
Hite acknowledged that students struggled during online classes.
“They really had a hard time during times when schools were not open in person,” Hite said. “Although it took a toll on their mental health, they did grow stronger as a result of it.”
Peter Lee, 18, a senior at the Academy at Palumbo, is among the 7,500 students graduating from Philly high schools this year. Lee endured the online learning imposed by COVID-19 in his sophomore year.
“Everything was new. The world was spinning into chaos and all that. But I was able to get through it,” Lee said.
“It is a hard challenge, I will say that. But in the end, I was able to overcome it because I had to just do it for a year, and I just sucked it up and dealt with it head-on.”
Lee, who has enlisted in the Army, reports next month to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.
Anyeah Jones, 17, is graduating from the automotive program at the Workshop School, a project-based high school in West Philadelphia.
Virtual learning, Jones said, actually boosted her communications skills.
“It made me even stronger because it helped me grow, in a way,” said Jones. “It made me get out there more because we had to speak to people online.”
Jones, who has a vehicle maintenance job with SEPTA, said she learned to adjust as she pivoted to developing her escape room project on a computer, instead of in person.
“We usually do escape rooms in 10th grade,” Jones added. “We had to make it online on an app. So that affected us a lot. But we still had fun doing it.”
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Kevin Arthur, 18, a senior at the High School for Creative and Performing Arts, said the pandemic disruptions taught him the value of adjusting to circumstances.
“It wasn’t the best time. I learned a lot about myself. A lot about how flexible I can be and the school can be,” Arthur said.
“No one wants to really deal with someone who isn’t willing to change or isn’t willing to adjust themselves, so it’s a great skill in general.”
The district had an 80% graduation rate last year. Through the third quarter this year, the district said 71% of 12th graders were on track to graduate. That figure was expected to rise as more seniors meet the requirements, a district spokeswoman said.
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