School staff, students reflect on year filled with challenges

Whether you were a student, staff member or district administrator, the 2020-2021 school year was filled with challenges and obstacles while trying to navigate a way to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.
News 12 spoke with teachers and administrators about what it was like for them.
Chris Soupios, a teacher at Baldwin High School, says you think you knew things and then you realize you had to relearn stuff. "It was like being a new teacher really for the first year."
For Oyster Bay High School teacher Carla Pimentel, this year was tough.
"To describe this year I would say challenging, nerve-wracking, exciting and a really great learning experience at the same time," says Pimentel. "Just required to stretch yourself further than you thought you could."
Hempstead School Superintendent Regina Armstrong says keeping up with the protocols in place and making sure everything was followed was a challenge.
"I think the most difficult part of running a school district during the pandemic was just making sure you have systems in place to keep everyone safe," says Armstrong. "You would feel personally responsible if something happened to someone because you skipped a protocol or didn't have a certain protocol in place."
While teachers and administrators are unsure what the next school year will look like, they all agree that hopefully it's a little more like it was pre-pandemic.