High school seniors react to returning to classrooms High school seniors react to returning to classrooms By Bernadette Heier | February 19, 2021 at 7:03 PM CST - Updated February 19 at 7:03 PM MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) — Last year, when schools first closed due to the pandemic, many thought it’d be for a short period of time. “It was really weird, it didn’t feel real. It kind of just felt like a break, like oh this is a two-week thing we will be back,” Mankato West High School senior Mattea Burmeister said. While the switch to online and hybrid learning posed its challenges, students say it was the social aspect that was particularly tough, as well as the canceled traditions.