Johnstown students share thoughts on 'new normal' with teachers, administration

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Greater Johnstown students from various grades provided honest answers to district teachers and administrators on Thursday about classes, mental health, safety and more.

“I just feel that it’s really important to get your point across,” junior Meeya Gause said. “It’s just nice to know that someone is listening to what you’re saying.”

The 16-year-old was one of 19 learners who participated in the gathering.

The students were shown the PBS documentary ”Our New Normal: How Teens are Redefining School Life,” which recently aired on WQED, then met with Superintendent Amy Arcurio and teachers Christian Wrabley, Dan Tomak and John Smith to discuss the film and their own lives.

Wrabley was contacted by PBS to show the hour-long documentary, produced by PBS NewsHour’s Student Reporting Labs, and get students’ feedback on it.

The documentary examined a variety of issues facing students today by talking to teenagers from across the country.

Throughout the show, the student reporters touched on the COVID-19 pandemic and school safety, LGBTQ+ rights, mental health, social media and books being banned from classrooms.

As the Greater Johnstown conversation began, Tomak encouraged the group to express themselves as much as they can. The students didn’t shy away from the topics, with many eagerly raising their hands to share their thoughts.

The discussion began with school safety, and one of the teens’ main concerns was that they’d never received active threat training.

“We know what to do,” senior Bruce Wilde said. “We watch the videos, but we’ve never been trained.”

Fellow student Eli Gunby agreed, adding that having threat drills would be a good idea. Another student chimed in that he doesn’t “think you should be scared to come to school.”

This was followed by a lengthy talk on mental health – anxiety, depression, social stress – that included discussion of the pandemic’s effects on their lives and the other burdens they face.

Emma Bakos said she’s worked hard to come out of her shell since freshman year, but felt like the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020 caused her to regress, and the continued lack of socializing isn’t helping.

A classmate added that no one knows how to communicate or open up about themselves anymore.

“It just sucks,” another said.

Others shared feelings of isolation caused by the pandemic and virtual learning.

“It felt like the world was about to end,” Gause said about the situation.

Taking this all in, Wilde pointed out that teachers should be cognizant of the variety of pressures students deal with, including classes, social issues and, for some, after-school jobs.

“I think we need to stop overworking our students and putting grades first,” he said.

His peers also expressed frustration with the district’s guidance counselors and said there is a need for individuals who can focus on students’ well-being.

The discussion wrapped up with a brief conversation about how LGBTQ+ students are underrepresented in the school and claims that teachers should take the time to learn students’ pronouns.

As for the documentary, the participants agreed that every student should have a chance to watch it, and Wrabley thanked them for being “brave, thoughtful and articulate.”

The rest of the students at Greater Johnstown will get to watch the PBS documentary in their advisement periods.

Gause said she was happy to participate in the gathering and was pleased to see the teachers and the superintendent actively listening and taking notes.

Inspired by the meeting, Arcurio asked if the students would participate in a superintendent’s advisory group that would meet several more times before the end of the school year. All of the students were in favor of participating.

“If we lose sight that students are the No. 1 stakeholder in this world – in this work, we’ve lost sight of why we’re here,” she said afterward. “Better ideas come from these opportunities.”

At the end of the meeting, Wrabley told the students that he wants them to create a discussion guide for showing the documentary to others. He also wants to see them recreate an aspect of the special titled “Letters to My Middle School Self,” in which several of the students expressed interest.

Wrabley was impressed by the students’ overall input.

“You could tell that it was meaningful for them,” he said.