Recently, the strong category four struck Florida and brought with it a lot of rain and strong winds. Leaving many with property damage, and a whole lot of flooding. Shutting down roads, schools, and the stage here at OCSA. 

Osceola county issued a school shut down for a around week due to the hurricane, starting September 27th, and ending October 4th. During this week there were planned performances, most notably recital. Those students who had their performances scheduled that week have had their performances put on pause, as the stage faced severe water damage. Events are now being rescheduled and moved around, though with the whole year already being booked with events some will have to be canceled. So far it is not clear of when the auditorium will be reopened.

One event being homecoming that was right around the corner, until the shutdown happened. The event moving to October 28th, starting a 7pm that day. Many students and parents have not been happy with this. With turmoil happening on Instagram, comments were turned off.

Many students here at OCSA ride buses from all over the county. But due to the rains the hurricane brought us, many of those routes had to be shut down and bus stops needed to be changed, making students late. Leading to some students missing assignments or instructions on what to do that day.

The days lost from the hurricane were very damaging since many students need to work on grades, especially with the school being shut down near the end of the first quarter. When asked about how the hurricane affected grades, a student Aeryn E. Thomas stated that she had a “test grade making my grade a B,” and she is, “upset since I don’t have the chance to fix it.” Showing how the days off made it harder for students to fix grades. In addition, some students returned to school even later due to housing and transportation issues. 

As the days go by, the hurricane’s effects lighten on the county. Students still face interruption but with time and effort, the students of OCSA will power through this mess as school returns to normal.