The thought of skipping school to skate your way to victory on the ice or run your heart out on a cross-country course is exhilarating. However, missing school may have severe impacts on not only the student having to catch up on schoolwork, but also teachers dealing with shortages of students in the classroom.
Senior Iris Nordin runs cross country in the fall and track in the spring, which usually leads to her missing sixth and seventh period for meets. She thinks that catching up on work missed from school can be hard, but with certain strategies, it is manageable.
“[I]t’s important to make sure you’re staying on top of your work so that you’re able to miss school for tournaments,” Nordin said. “I also try to tell my teachers in advance that I’ll be gone.”
Her biggest ask to teachers is to have more resources on Schoology.
“Teachers have to make their lesson plans accessible from home because if you’re missing class, you have to be able to learn the material from home,” she said.
Sophomore Khloe Watne plays goalie on the Junior Varsity Girls’ Hockey team and went to Duluth for one of her games. Because of how far away the city is, she and her team had to leave school early on Friday to make it on time for the match. For Watne, that meant missing “more than half a day” of key instructional time. One crucial part of the school day that Watne missed was her math test, which she had to retake later that week during office hours.
Teachers are also significantly affected by student absences. AP Environmental Science teacher Eric Burfeind is specifically upset about the effect that absences have on his mental health and the classroom.
“Teachers put a lot of thought into making activities or daily lessons based on students being present,” Burfeind said. “When people are gone, it messes up the continuity of things.”
Also, Burfeind notices that most students don’t catch up on work they missed when they were gone, leading to him having to chase down students for overdue assignments and test make-ups.
“It’s supposed to be the student’s responsibility, but it falls on the teacher’s shoulders to be like, ‘Well, I guess I should be the nice person; I guess I should be the one to talk to you instead of you talking to me,’” Burfeind said.
According to Burfeind, the school can help with this problem by making responsibilities clear and reinforcing them.
“I think accountability on all levels is important, from the students to the teachers to the administration,” Burfiend said. “We all need to hold each other accountable and do our jobs.”
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on Dec. 18, 2025
