Honorable Mention

“Now students have all the resources they need, teachers that are dedicated to helping htem, free wifi to do their work. Students are never stressed about the little things and are able to always have a hot healthy meal. They can just enjoy school for what it is, the right to a free education that they deserve.”

The Greatest Change in Wyoming Education

Naomi Moore

Age 16
Rock River, Wyoming
Fiction

I wake up like normal every day to get ready for work at the Albany County police station, where I have wanted to work forever. I was finally able to become what I have always wanted to, my forever dream job. The year is 2030 and I am still living in Wyoming with my family where I have lived since I was 8 years old. Now I am not worrying about what life was back then because it is good now. Never having to worry about very much in the school system as a police officer makes my day so much easier. It is my patrol day. I get to go to the high school today and see all the students. The world has changed so much from when I was in high school from 2020 to 2024 and for the best, because it was not very good when I was in school then. When I went to school it was during the whole Covid-19 pandemic. It was at the end of my eighth-grade year that we were first put into the very first quarantine. It was very hard to stay at school when we were always getting quarantined never knowing if I was going to be the next one to be sent home. Nowadays we never have to worry about very much in the school system because the teachers and staff are always there for the students to let them have the best education they deserve to have, even more than when I was in school. It was hard for the teachers to always help us learn because they were still learning how to teach us through a pandemic. Now the students and teachers are hardly even stressed with everyday life and school because the teachers have all the materials they need to teach their students. But today the students and teachers don’t have to worry about getting quarantined. They are able to learn at home with free wifi, getting all necessary school resources, getting hot meals, not getting stressed, teachers always being there for their students and school, they are never having to worry about missed schoolwork or late work, and students are finally enjoying school for the first time in a long time.

It’s so great everywhere in Wyoming. I walk into the school and see all the kids there and none of them are quarantined. I can still recall the first-ever quarantine. I was fourteen years old. It was after my sister’s basketball state tournament where they placed fourth. We just got into spring break, and everything started to change. Covid-19 had made it to the United States. It was around our third day of spring break where our parents got the call that we were not going to go back to school for another week. We were so excited to have another week off, but soon we would all lose that excitement. Then a few days later our parents got the call where we were not going to go back to school at all for the rest of the year. We all had to learn online for the very first time. It was my freshman year where everything was different. We all had to wear masks all the team unless we were eating. Even if we had our masks on and if we were by someone, less than six feet away, for more than fifteen minutes we would have to get quarantined. In late March, earlyish April, my dad got the Covid-19 virus and the next day my brother and I went to go get a test, and as you would thought, yes, we got the virus as well. However, students don’t have to leave school ever only when they have sports events, field trips, any other school event, or when they get sick and choose to stay home and or get snowed in at home. It helps the teachers so much because they are not worried if the student is getting the work done or has questions on the schoolwork. With the students always being at school and not getting quarantined schools have gone up in educating their students since the students are never having to quarantine and stay at home. And always being there to learn and stay focused on their education and get good grades. Being able to continue to be a better student and never worrying if they will be the next one to get quarantined. So students will always stay tuned in at school with never being stressed about the quarantine.

Students are never worried about not getting their online work done at home because they are not able to have the access to any internet connection. The hardest obstacle for me during my many quarantines was being able to get all my online work done. It was hard for me to always be able to have an internet connection of some sort. Most of the time I only had the access to my phone’s hot spot. But now students are able to access free internet. They are able to stay caught up with their homework unlike when I was in school. Now Wyoming has the ability to help students by giving them free wifi wherever they live. Students have free wifi on busses so while they are on their way home they have the opportunity to work on their school work. So, when they are sick they can always stay caught up and never have to be stressed about falling behind in their school work because they always have the resources provided for them no matter what. Or if the weather gets really bad and students get snowed in, they do not have to worry about not having internet. So, for the kids that live far out from their school away from a good internet connection, they don’t have to worry about not having internet because they will always have a wifi connection to always be able to do their schoolwork and stay caught up with everything no matter the situation.

In 2030 every school is able to get all the necessary resources for students. No student has to pay for school supplies. When I had to do my school shopping it was hard sometimes to have my parents take me to the store to get me school supplies. For most of my elementary and junior high years, my dad was very sick and out of work. During that time period, I had to get my own job just to pay for all the school supplies I needed for the upcoming school year. But now they are all provided by the school. Pencils, pens, notebooks, and computers. All the resources the students need to have a proper education are given to them, so students don’t have to worry about not having time to get school supplies, not having parents that have time to take them, or not having the money to pay for all the school supplies. They will never have to worry about not having the supplies they need. Students will just be able to work on their schoolwork with all the supplies that the school has given them. So, they are not stressed and are able to never get behind with schoolwork because they have all the supplies they need to work.

I used to love to eat school lunch when I was in elementary and junior high. I would always try to get to the front of the line on Thursdays because that’s when they served the best pizza. They used to make the best lunches. Our lunch ladies were the best. But as I got into my high school our old lunch lady moved away and we got a new one and we would just be going back to in-school learning again. The lunches were never good. Always cold, never warm. The students never wanted to eat the school lunch like we used to. However now that so much has changed students are able to always have hot meals no matter what day it is. Meals are always provided to students no matter what. I remember that the school would always hand out meals if students needed them. But when I got older, I never knew if they kept doing that for the students but they do now. They are able to have a good and healthy meal. Having the necessities for a lunch—warm food, vegetables, fruit, juice, milk, and healthy meat. Students never have to worry about not having a warm lunch because the lunchroom will always serve a hot healthy meal. Students are always able to get a meal no matter what day it is because the school provides the students that need meals over the weekend. They will give the meals to last them over the weekend until they make it back to school the next week. Never have to worry when they will get their next meal because the school will always provide it for the students that need them. Students will always be provided a hot meal that everyone deserves to have. So that students never have to worry about where their next meal will come from.

School was always so stressful. I would always get so stressed from all my online schoolwork, regular schoolwork in person, sports, and everyday life. I always felt like I was falling behind in my everyday life. I feel so good for the students now because they don’t have to worry about the stressful experiences I was worried about during the pandemic. Now students and teachers are hardly even getting stressed now because they don’t have to worry about the pandemic like the students and teachers did back when I was in high school. The students don’t have to stress about school supplies, homework, internet connection, hot meals, and the stress of schoolwork. By being provided with all the resources students need, their stress is hardly even there because they do not have to think about what they need or need to do for their classes. Teachers are hardly even stressed because their students are doing their work because they have the resources provided by them from the school. So, teachers are never having to be stressed that their students do not have their work done. They are never having to be stressed about school because all the opportunities are there for the teachers and students. Therefore, they are always able to be there and get their schoolwork done no matter what happens in their day. They all have a way to stay caught up and not stressed by how the school is there to help them with the supplies they need to do their schoolwork. Never having a stressed day, so they are able to learn and teach even better than before because of not being stressed about what they have to do.

My teachers always tried to be there for me or any student always in school. They would try to help me with anything I ever needed. Whenever I needed help with schoolwork or just personal stuff, I know I could always have my teachers there to help and support me. It felt like having parents at school to always try to lead you in the right direction in life and make me the best I could be. Now teachers are always there for their students even more than before, never leaving their students in the dark with their education. Always there for what their students need if that is being there for them mentally, emotionally, or staying after school to help students. Teachers are able to make bonds with the students to truly understand how to help their students with whatever they need. To help the student any way they need help so they can be the best students they can be. Teachers are able to help the students, to help them be able to always understand the work they are learning and never be stressed about what they do not understand because the teachers can tell when students are feeling stressed and are able to help them.

Now students are never worried or stressed about missing schoolwork. Because they have all the resources they need to never have missing work. They have the computers, pencils, pens, notebooks, teachers, and internet to always be there to help them with the schoolwork. They never need to worry because they always have the teachers there to help them with whatever they need. Because the teachers are there to truly understand what every single student needs to not make them have missing work or late work. Teachers are never angry or upset about being late or missing work because they want what is best for their students so they help them with what they need if that may be more time on an assignment or needed to redo the assignment to get better at it. Teachers will always understand why a student does not have their work because they will always know what their students need. No matter what students will never get penalized if they have late work or miss work.

I can feel the warm in the hallways, the warmth like being hugged by your grandma. You can feel the happiness in the school again as if you’re sitting outside on a warm sunny day and feeling the sunshine warm your cheeks, the feeling of acceptance and happiness every. Something that was hard to feel in my school. But now students are finally happy to be at school again. I remember sometimes I would like school because I did have fun. But what made me not like it was the drama like a knife in the back from people you thought were your friends, that stabbing pain of betrayal and how hard the schoolwork could be and not having the resources like my other classmates had. Now they have all the resources they need, teachers that are dedicated to helping them, free wifi to do their work, never being stressed about the little things, and are able to always have a hot healthy meal. They can just enjoy school for what it is. Being able to have the right to a free education that they deserve. Being able to learn without being worried about failing or messing up. Students are finally able to enjoy going to school because they are not stressed about schoolwork, or teachers getting mad at them. They are just enjoying being able to go to school without the stress.

It’s 3:33. The school bell rings and children fill the halls. I wait for all of them to leave. I get in my patrol car and make my way home and take off my uniform. All I can think of is how good my life is, how my family’s life is good, and how everything in Wyoming is perfect. Wyoming 2030 is a great year to be living in with all the opportunities for everyone living here. I finally got the dream job that I’ve wanted to become since I was a little girl. I was able to have that opportunity because of how Wyoming has become. How everyone had the best opportunities to become whatever they wanted to be. Everything is perfect, every single society is perfect, no misunderstandings. The environment is great, so much water and green grass, the agriculture is doing great by how well the animals are doing. And the schools are doing great with everything about them. They have great teachers that are always dedicated to the school and their students to help them become the best they can be with their education. The students are being to stay in school and not worry about being quarantined and missing weeks of school. They are able to enjoy school for the first time in a long time. They are getting hot meals every day even when students are not in school because the school wants to help students with whatever they need whether that is in school or out of school. Students have the access to free wifi no matter where they are in the state, so they are able to always work on schoolwork wherever they are so they never get behind in their studies. And by having wifi on the busses they have the opportunities to work on their schoolwork going to sports games or going home from school if they live far away from the school they are never having to be stressed about not having internet because they can always access it not matter where they are so they can do their work no matter what. Students and teachers are never getting stressed because students need what their teachers need and the teachers know what their students need. And students are never getting penalized for missing or late work because their teachers understand why it is missing or why it is late so they are always able to help them. I could not think of a better place to live than Wyoming in 2030. Everything here is just perfect, no worries about what bad is going to happen next. We just all live our lives to the fullest. We just know we are living our best lives in Wyoming because we have the opportunity to make our lives great. I finished my thoughts of how great life is and prepare my day for tomorrow. Getting ready to go back to the job and life I truly love.