The Class Of 2025 is in 8th grade. Most of them are still online, doing school from home because of COVID-19.
But things have changed from almost a year ago, when the pandemic closed school buildings in spring 2020. At Ron Russell Middle School, the Class Of 2025 receives live instruction four days a week now, and some students feel more used to the new learning model.
OPB's Class Of 2025 project has been documenting the growth of 27 students who started school together in Southeast Portland for 8 years.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
The Class Of 2025 is also one step closer to high school, and the future. And as the students get closer to graduation, thoughts about the future are starting to get more real.
‘Class Of 2025’ is a six-episode podcast from Oregon Public Broadcasting. The podcast is hosted and produced by OPB’s Elizabeth Miller with editing and producing by Rob Manning and Elyssa Dudley. Episodes are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR One app, and at opb.org.