HOUSTON — This school year has been dominated by COVID-19 news. But Thursday's topic in many classrooms across the country was Wednesday's insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
"Like a lot of my peers, other than being surprised, I was angry,” Vashitha Krishnam said.
Krishnam and some of her classmates at HISD’s Carnegie Vanguard High School shared similar thoughts.
"Of course, it was a great shock, but like we all saw, a lot of it built up, like, for a long time,” student Luke Schaefer said.
"Something like this wasn’t unexpected even though it was horrific to watch it play out,” Logan George said.
Their social studies teacher said part of her lesson is historical perspective and her students have come of age in a very divisive time.
"It’s really profound to see them growing up in this historical context and this is their normal,” Dr. Charlotte Haney said.
Texas American Federation of Teachers President Zeph Capo posted his thoughts about helping students understand the incident online, including how educators should not share their own political views while discussing current events.
National educational organizations also shared resources for teachers and classes on things like Democracy and peaceful transition of power.
"One of the things that I keep trying to express to my students is how important this time is and how important it is to be engaged at this moment," Haney said. "Because we’re really steering the ship through really rocky waters right now.”
It's a fractured time in which many students remain hopeful based, in part, on what they’re learning.
"That as we realize how wrong this is, that we can come back from it," Krishnam said. "That we can eventually, you know, establish positive dialogue, have discourse.”
As long as it's with a lot less disruption.