The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. Now that Cedar Rapids teachers have been offered the vaccine for COVID-19, they are hopeful school can return to normal soon.

“My hope lies with the fact that everyone is getting vaccinated, not only teachers . Getting back to ‘normal’ seems within grasp and having this hope is everything after a long, hard year,” Abbie Rittmiller, Kennedy High School language arts teacher, said.

Optimism is growing as teachers are vaccinated. There is hope that this signals a safe return to schools.

“Now that teachers are being vaccinated I hope that it will provide some security for teachers and students. I also hope it will cut down on teachers having to miss work so that student learning can take place in a smooth manner,” Joseph Benedict, social studies teacher at Kennedy said.

The possibility of a safe return to school is inspiring for teachers, as is the chance to connect with students and staff.

“Knowing that my friends and colleagues are protected and can have peace of mind does give me an optimism for the future,” Rittmiller said. “As someone who is new to the building, it’s been extremely hard to build relationships with other teachers, and I can’t wait until we can resume some more normal activities that allow us all to forge relationships.”

A return to in-person learning could be difficult for some after the adjustments made to protect the students and staff.

“Just like adjusting to in-person was difficult this year, resuming back, to an all in-person classroom model will be a welcomed challenge,” Rittmiller said.”I just want to see my students interact with one another, and I want to be able to see when students’ mental health is suffering. These are things I just can’t see as well through a computer screen.”