Since March 13, Bonita Vista High (BVH) has been seemingly empty with the exception of school staff and administrators, librarians and small cohorts of students. As BVH continues to function through distance learning, many have lost the concept of commuting to campus, but not all. 

Someone seeing the campus from a bird’s eye view would still see a few cars around the campus, and upon further inspection they would see students studying outside and a few teachers entering their classrooms alone. These are the teachers who choose to maintain their pre-pandemic routine by commuting to campus and keeping the sparse campus lively.

Even though they find themselves alone in their once bustling classrooms, some teachers prefer the familiarity of teaching on campus during distance learning. Honors Chemistry teacher Albert Ohlendorf has gone on campus every day of the week since the start of the 2020-2021 school year. Integrated Math 1 and Financial Algebra teacher Ray Peterson only visited campus for three days due to a power outage but discovered he had fewer distractions. Others, like BVH Dance teacher Christine Timmons, continue to visit campus from Monday to Thursday.

During the 2019-2020 school year, teachers were only allowed onto campus to get supplies, though upon the start of the 2020-2021 school year, teachers were given the choice to go on campus to teach virtually.

“There’s a couple different reasons [why I go onto campus]. One is because my wife is a high school counselor and [since] she’s working upstairs and I’m working down[stairs], sometimes [when] we have simultaneous meetings it [can be] distracting,” Ohlendorf said. “The second reason is because Mr. Rivera [and I] teach the same class and we coordinate all the time [since] he’s also on campus.” 

Similar to Ohlendorf, Timmons believes going on campus helps eliminate distractions for both her and her students. However, the distractions are not because of her spouse’s simultaneous online meetings, like Ohlendorf, but because of her children. 

“I have two-year-old twins and a four-year-old, so there’s not really any quiet space at my house,” Timmons said. “I also have some technology that I am able to use at school that I am not able to use at home, [and I] don’t really have a lot of space to dance [at my home].” 

For Peterson, going onto campus was the best way he could “be productive” after an internet cable on his street was cut which restricted his internet access for three days until the cable was replaced. Although he “wasn’t able to physically take advantage of anything different” at the time, by teaching the same way at home and at school during distance learning, he finds that one isn’t necessarily better than the other. 

“They kind of work hand-in-hand, where one doesn’t have an advantage [over the other]. I could have internet problems here, just like I could have internet problems at school,” Peterson said. “Other than that, the tools that I use [are the same]. I have my document camera right on my paper. I have my laptop as a backup and my main computer from school as my primary.”

Like Peterson, Ohlendorf has been using his document camera as a tool during distance learning; however, he has yet to take it home. He leaves it at school because being at school has more advantages for him due to his need for on-campus materials. 

“I can access some of my lab materials [on campus]. I’ve been able to do a couple demonstrations on campus that I would not be able to do at home. We did a flame test demonstration and I demonstrated some of the properties of elements, which I couldn’t do very well at home,” Ohlendorf said. 

Although the traditional commute to BVH helps teachers logistically to varying degrees, Ohlendorf, Peterson and Timmons all feel that it helps them mentally prepare to teach. They feel that going onto campus helps them separate their home life from their work. Timmons explains that to her, it is getting “a mom break.” 

“I think [going onto campus helped me] stay a little bit more focused in between classes. I didn’t have to worry about who’s knocking at the door, checking the mail or regular things that I would do around the house,” Peterson said. “I was almost forced into that environment of less distractions in between classes.”

Aside from the advantages to teaching on campus, Ohlendorf, Peterson and Timmons all state that there are certain challenges they face as well. Timmons expresses that making the commute comes with the challenge of finding people to watch her kids. Ohlendorf adds that most of the campus is still closed down and there is only one restroom open for the faculty which is across the campus from his classroom. Peterson notes that along with dealing with the commute, one must also deal with the weather outside of their comfortable home.