For the first time since 2019, Turlock Unified School District celebrated an in-person first day of school on Wednesday with students returning to full classrooms as the coronavirus pandemic continues. 

Children and teens last year experienced their first day from a distance, attending class virtually on computers as COVID-19 kept campuses closed. Despite the Delta variant making headway throughout the country, mitigation measures like masks and vaccines allowed students in grades K-12 to learn amongst their peers once again at this week’s start of the 2021-2022 academic year. 

First year teacher Briana Padilla, who teaches Spanish at Pitman High School, has been through every stage of teaching during the pandemic. As a student teacher pursuing her credential from Stanislaus State, she was able to experience a pre-pandemic classroom in the fall of 2019 before the virus forced both teachers and students to switch to a distance learning format. 

Now, the 2015 Turlock High School graduate is happy to begin her first official year of teaching with students all together in one room. It was harder to connect with students through the computer, she said, and despite the fact that they’re wearing masks, it’s been a relief to see her classes in person. 

There’s still a lot to remember, like no eating in class and keeping students from using the drinking fountain, but it’s the closest to normal she’s felt in a long time.

“It feels a lot better and I feel like I can breathe a little bit better when I'm teaching with them because of how we're doing it right now,” Padilla said. “I'm hoping that it stays like this and even gets better. I hope that at some point, we can go without masks when it's okay to do that and I hope that it can be just like when I started student teaching.”

Padilla is one of 90 new certificated staff hired by TUSD this year, which also included independent study teachers, school counselors and administrators. There have been some benefits when it comes to teaching during a pandemic, Padilla said, like an increased use of technology by the district and the fact that she’s making it through what will likely be her greatest challenge as an educator.

“This is all awesome knowledge to have for the future, because who knows what's gonna happen this next school year,” she said. “I think that I'll be confident enough and not be afraid to navigate it. I'll be able to adjust a little better, having already done it before — but hopefully not to the same degree.”

Padilla said mask enforcement hasn’t been an issue in her classroom so far. At Walnut Elementary Education Center, fourth graders Brooklyn Light and Josephine Hollcraft said wearing a mask in class is no big deal to them as they socialized with friends outside of their new classroom on Wednesday.

“After being on Zoom, now I love school,” Hollcraft said. 

“The good thing is that when you’re outside you can have your mask off,” Light said. “It’s great to be back.”

In addition to mask mandates in schools, it was announced on Wednesday that amid growing concerns surrounding the Delta variant, California will require all teachers and school employees to be vaccinated or submit to regular COVID testing. TUSD must be in full compliance with the new mandate by Oct. 15 and Human Resources is currently collecting proof of vaccination from staff. The district will begin surveillance testing on Oct. 11.

“Thank you for your patience as we navigate this ever-shifting landscape of COVID-19 health and safety protocols to protect students and staff and help keep our schools open,” TUSD wrote on their website regarding the new order, which can be viewed at www.turlock.k12.ca.us/update. 

Among the students and parents walking happily to class on Wednesday was Nanette Hovasine, who dropped her daughter Hannah Doomanadeh off at Walnut on Wednesday morning and said it was an emotional experience after not being able to celebrate the first day of school last year. 

“I know that the Delta variant is coming, but there’s a lot of hope around this day finally being here,” Hovasine said of the first day of school. “I'm just proud of the district and I'm proud of the teachers. We have to move forward. We can’t go backwards.”