• KCWR coronavirus story picture: https://kcrw.co/3adoPkZ

MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - The COVID-19 pandemic has put a pause to many of our daily activities. K-12 schools are closed, colleges are closed until further notice, many Businesses are closing, and people are not working. To add on, this week Governor Whitmer declared a statewide shelter in place for the next 3 weeks.

This does not mean that we are trapped in our houses. This means that people should stay home as much as possible. Hospitals, gas stations, stores, and small restaurants/fast food, and other essential workplaces, are the only types of businesses open right now. Places serving food are sticking to drive thru and delivery. Other businesses have put signs up on doors to notify people not to come inside. It is important for everyone to continue to wash their hands and distance themselves from others.

A big pause in education has made many people wonder how they will finish the school year. Education is very important. All schools that have closed are providing their students with online classes or activities to keep them busy during this time. Colleges have switched to all online classes as well, however, some classes have been cancelled due to them being more hands on/project based.

Shifting K-12 classes online is tough due to kids not having access to electronics. It is the parents responsibility right now to make sure their children are staying educated not only on school, but also on what's going on in the world right now. COVID-19 is changing our everyday lives and many people are having to adapt to it. Online classes seem to be the only option right now to continue any type of education.

This leaves questions for many, wondering how they will take tests, quizzes, etc.

It may be a good thing to some kids with the amount of school cancelled, but very sad for others. Seniors are missing their proms, graduation, and day to day memories made with classmates. Sports games and seasons were cancelled. It has truly put a pause to many things we enjoy week to week.

The next steps are not certain right now. The overall plan for colleges and K-12 schools is to take these next three weeks off to learn and observe before returning to the regular school agenda. This whole situation is definitely a "going with the flow" type of plan.

A big website right now is called Zoom. Mathew Rascoff, a digital education teacher from Duke University stated: "Zoom is an online website where you can chat with multiple people. School Faculty have been able to use technology such as Zoom, a tool that provides video conferencing, to continue classes. Professors can use polls, for example, to engage students in real-time as though it was a classroom."

On average, it takes 1-3 months to really plan an online education course. The education students will receive may not seem like their normal high-quality education. Switching from in person interaction to online shows the impact the school environment has on you. Taking a class on a computer vs. being in class every week is very different.

Students will need to adapt to the style while the COVID-19 outbreak is being handled. With so many negative things going on, it is important to find the positives in a bad situation. In light of all of this, there have been some good things that have happened: air pollution is down, families are together more, there is hope for things to get better, and people are overall staying more clean.

It is important that everyone works together to do their part during this trying time so that we, as a society, can get back to our normal lives sooner rather than later.