The sun had not yet risen to warm the baseball fields. The stars had not quite faded into the cold, early morning darkness, and junior Dylan Hurt was awake. Practice for the baseball team begins at 5:30 in the morning and ends from 7 to 7:30 a.m., but Hurt arrives even earlier.
“I set up the machines… I’m always one of the first ones there,” Hurt said. This routine will repeat nearly every morning as baseball season rapidly approaches.
After practice, Hurt leaves for a Kum and Go run before returning to school– just as floating math teacher Joanna Curtis arrives at her first classroom of the day. Curtis moves between rooms, each shared with another teacher as the day goes on.
“It’s more chaotic,” Curtis said. “I’m in six different classrooms, so there’s not ever really a routine. There’s not really a very good flow to the day.”
Curtis is accompanied by her cart, the closest thing she has to a permanent desk. It is tall, laden with the materials Curtis needs to teach her six geometry classes. Her routine changes as often as her location.
Sophomore William Barrientos’s life at school has a steadier rhythm.
“I go to school. I study. Learn. Hang out with my friends. And pay attention in class,” he said. The hardest part of his school days are the tests and quizzes he takes, which he prepares for with a simple plan.
“Read, take notes, and learn,” Barrientos said.
Senior Sarah Shepard faces daily academic preparation with a slightly different technique.
“Two days a week, I work after school at the Sifted Flour bakery. If I’m not working, I’ll grab a snack, pet my cat, and then if I have any homework I’ll knock that out before everyone gets home. Other than that, most of my nights consist of watching Wheel of Fortune with my family.”
As Shepard goes to work or to her home, freshman Raija Todd prepares for basketball.
After school, I first go home and work on my homework, and then I go to the gym and practice,” Todd said.
Often times, she goes with her dad, putting in an average of two hours of practice on weekdays and four hours on weekends. Practicing and working out are two core components to Todd’s daily routine. Other key parts to her day include getting on her phone, talking to friends, and studying.
When Todd is usually finishing up at the gym, senior Herb Gill takes a less
physical approach to releasing energy.
“I go home at the end of the day. I stay up until, like, one or two in the morning, just writing,” Gill said. “It kind of takes away all of the stress.”
Three or four hours after Gill goes to sleep, Dylan Hurt wakes up. And the day begins again. The sun will rise, and 2,751 students wake up, each with a unique routine and story.
