Why did you decide to go maskless and how does it feel being maskless at school?
“Once that they madeit optional but once I got to a restaurant I put my mask on and when I’m surrounded by people I wear a mask but when I’m alone I take it off I feel okay not wearing mask. At school I see more teachers everyday not wearing mask and I’m okay with that.”
“Once they made it optional but once I got to a restaurant I put my mask on. When I am surrounded by people I put on my mask, but when I am alone I take it off. When I am walking in the school halls and there are not many students, I do not feel the need to put on the mask. I feel okay not wearing a mask at school. I see more teachers everyday not wearing masks and I’m okay with that.”
Security guard, Coach Nick
“It feels awesome [to not wear a mask]. I decided to go maskless because it makes me happy, and it makes me feel free. I’m not worried about the covid because we know that all the students have the vaccine, although that does not matter as long as I have the vaccine. But I’m not worried about the covid, I feel free and without fear of getting the virus.”
Sophomore, Amir Z.
“I decide to go makeless because I am vaccinated and boosted, and I trust the safety of the vaccine, and I also see how powerful it is to see each other’s faces, to see each other’s smiles and how much we have been missing that the past year. I understand people that keep the mask on, but for me I was ready to take it off and see people’s faces, and also teaching was just really hard, and particularly teaching newcomers, it was hard with a mask because they had no idea what I was saying. Being without a mask feels great, I feel free, I can breathe, I can smile. It feels like we are heading in the right direction.”
ELD teacher, Ms. Donahue
“I believe that this is a decision of each person because sometimes it works and sometimes it does not work. But now I feel more comfortable [without a mask] in my class even though my students are around me, that does not matter to me, that is optional for everyone, I do not think it is a problem not wearing the mask. On the contrary I feel better when I see the faces of other people. It is more pleasant to see the smiles of other people.”
Math teacher, Mr. Honnef
“I feel free of my face because the mask was a problem when I had to speak to someone. I decided to take off my mask because it is something that bothered me and I no longer felt comfortable and why, even if you have it on, it will always work for you and I have gone to many places without masks and nothing has happened to me. Iit feels very freeing. Being without a mask at school feels good because if I can get to class and my friends and teachers see me without masks and I can express myself better.”
Senior, Gabriella V.
“I decided to go maskless because I think I feel safe and I haven’t gotten covid since, also wearing the mask is kinda annoying. At the end of the day I see smudged on my mask and I feel dirty. Finally I get breakouts on my face due to swearing the mask all day long.”
Junior, Sein K.
