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By Jackson Stanley
For the Clemmons Courier

As summer comes to a close, and fall approaches, the students of West Forsyth begin to get back into the groove of school. But unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last six months, you know that this school year is going to look a little different. With all Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools (WSFCS) starting the year virtually students at West and beyond are experiencing something truly unprecedented.

For the 2020-2021 school year a new program, Canvas Learning Management System has been implemented to aid in the transition into an entirely online school experience. Along with Canvas is the more familiar Zoom, a video chatting program. When the two are used in tandem, teachers have the ability to teach in a “Zoom classroom” during a scheduled, synchronous learning time, and then give students assignments on Canvas to do for either scheduled, asynchronous learning time or homework.

Although West may be doing school online, students have hit the ground running with their extracurriculars. The clubs and organizations at school are picking up where they left off last year, there was even a virtual Club Rush event Sept. 11. Most clubs are meeting virtually on Zoom and continuing their activities to the best of their abilities. As for athletics, all school sports will be operating on an altered schedule, moving non-contact sports such as cross country and volleyball earlier in the year, as well as moving full-contact sports like football to start in February. These changes were made in hopes of limiting the exposure and transmission of COVID-19 without student-athletes, coaches and fans missing out on their seasons.

Along with all of the other new, exciting and slightly nerve-wracking things the students and citizens of Clemmons have to look forward to, there is me, the new Titan Tattler. My name is Jackson Stanley, and I’m a senior at West Forsyth who has enjoyed working on the Zephyr, the school newspaper, since my sophomore year. I have experience as a news writer and sports editor, and this year I’m heading the sports and features staffs as the co-editor in chief. When I’m not working on school or the Zephyr, I enjoy playing basketball, watching my favorite NBA team, the Toronto Raptors, playing video games and spending time with either my friends or my bearded dragon, Taco. I’m extremely excited for this opportunity and anxious to share the events of a school as great as West. Go Titans!