Every year an unwanted visitor comes to our community and causes great distress; the flu. This year, H1N1, otherwise known as “Swine Flu,” has affected a great number of AHS students who have found themselves dealing with symptoms ranging from massive headaches and sore throats to high fevers.

AHS nurse Tracy Shakespeare said, “68-185 students [have been missing], but that’s not necessarily because of the swine flu–as much as everybody goes to the doctor, no one is getting tested for the swine flu but rather influenza A. If the symptoms and test results point to the swine flu then the doctors tell the patients that they can assume that they have the swine flu.”

When asked how many more students she expects to be absent, she said, “We’ve probably hit a peak and looks like things are settling down.”

Students who were out with the swine flu are coming back to find themselves with heaps of makeup work. Junior Olivia Ko had a test, lab, essay, and plenty of handouts to make up. “I was extremely overwhelmed, I felt like it was going to be impossible to make up the work I missed.”

Missing one day of school may seem challenging to some students, but is not an impossible task. However, to miss a whole week of school is an even more stressful and daunting task. Junior Victoria Ko, who was also out with the swine flu for the entire week, had to make up work for the week she missed in all seven of her classes. When asked how she was dealing with all the makeup work, she replied, “The earliest time I’ve gone to sleep this week is 1 A.M.”

Students who were out sick use Blackboard as a way to get any homework or notes from teachers. Junior Alyssa Suchar said, “If it wasn’t for blackboard I don’t know how I would have gotten by.”

Further, to make up for anything they might have missed, students are staying after to get extra help for previous class assignments. Not only are students staying after school more often, but teachers are also devoting more of their time after school to help them learn the material they missed.

Biology and Environmental Systems teacher, Kimberly Becraft, said “I’m staying after and I keep absent folders that have students missing work. I also post class work and homework on Blackboard.”

Teachers are offering a great amount of their time to ensure all their students understand and complete missed classwork and homework. In return, it is expected of students from teachers to put as much initiative into completing their work as teachers are offering re-teaching their lessons.

On her expectations for kids who were out with the flu Becraft jokingly said, “I expect my students to bring me brownies.”

What more could teachers have done to help out students who were out? “Putting up online lessons and assigning less work” said Victoria Ko.

Missing school puts a great deal of pressure both on the students and the teachers, but with the great outbreak of swine flu, students and teachers do not have much of a choice. Most teachers give extensions to students who were out, but having to make up work for seven classes makes it just that much more difficult.