SUMMARY

With graduation season in full swing, the class of 2024 is reflecting on a highly unusual four years of school. Their freshman experience was marked by pandemic lockdowns, but that was just the first in a chain of momentous global events. NewsHour spoke to some members of this class about how they're looking back and forward.

View the transcript of the story.

News alternative: Check out from the NewsHour, and choose the story you’re most interested in watching. You can make a Google doc copy of discussion questions that work for any of the stories here.

WARM-UP QUESTIONS

1. Who are some of the students interviewed for this story, and what type of schools did they attend?
2. When (what year) did the high school and college graduating classes of 2024 begin in high school and college, respectively?
3. How has the last four years been like "living out a history book" according to student Matthew Spiker?
4. What are some of the events of the past four years that students say made their school experience unusual?
5. Why did school still not seem "back to normal" for many students after return from pandemic quarantines?

FOCUS QUESTIONS

• How do you think your school experience has been different than previous generations because of the COVID disruption?
• Do you think there are other differences for students of this generation more important than the COVID disruption? If so, what?

Media literacy: If this story had focused only on high school instead of college graduates, how do you think some of the responses would have been different?

Alternative: See, Think, Wonder: What did you notice? What did the story make you think? What would you want to learn more about?

FOR MORE

What students can do: Watch the following short video produced by Student Reporting Labs in September 2021 on what it was like to return to school after pandemic quarantines. Then discuss as a class —

1. What challenges from that time do you think your school community has overcome?
2. What challenges still linger?
3. Do you think life at school is not permanently different than before the pandemic?

Fill out this form to share your thoughts on Classroom’s resources.