For 26-year teaching veteran Calvin Kemmer, this year feels as rough as his first.
"It's like endless putting out fires just trying to keep things moving along," he said. "I'm just worn out, just mentally fried."
The Cumberland County social studies teacher says balancing pandemic protocols on top of both virtual and in person students, hurts his love of the job.
"It is stifling my love of teaching right now because I just feel I can't do enough, I can't get it down," he said. "I don't want to do things halfway. I just feel like I'm failing the virtual kids, I'm failing the in-person kids."
He said simple things are now complicated, like trying to get kids logged in virtually while also trying to start in-person class.
It's a sentiment familiar to Knox Co. Education Association President Tanya Coats. She said Kemmer is not alone.
"They're overwhelmed," she said. "I think this mental exhaustion has really taken a toll on our educators."
She said many have told her they feel like they're not doing everything right, that they're failing their students and their district.
Learning a whole new virtual system while still teaching in person, combined with the looming fear of a deadly virus, makes Kemmer think some good teachers may throw in the towel.
"I definitely think there's going to be a massive turnover in May and June," he said, forecasting a shortage of educators as they struggled to teach kids in a whole new classroom.
He said he does not have time to consider getting the virus himself, but worries about being a "silent spreader" and asymptomatically transmitting it to his family.
"The reality of doing virtual and in-person at the same time and trying to meet those needs and do it right it's as difficult as anything I've done in education," he said.