As a district, it’s safe to say that our first “close to normal” return to the school year has so far been a success. Although challenges and difficult questions emerged from the unexpected impact of COVID-19, our beginning school year maintained its usual events and activities safely.

“Overall, I think Spring-Ford has done a pretty good job this year with the limits of COVID-19,” senior Ryan Jacobus said. “I’m glad we still had Spirit Week this year though, the school year definitely would not have been the same without it.”

One of the most prominent events at Spring-Ford includes Spirit Week. The week of Spirit Week is full of activities such as the annual Pep Rally, the Homecoming Dance, Powder Puff, and the highly anticipated Homecoming football game.

A few main concerns regarding these exciting events included ensuring safety for staff and students. As COVID-19 still poses a difficulty to our everyday lives, it was crucial for the events to be conducted safely. Also, with a large number of individuals within the Spring-Ford Senior High School, there were many challenges regarding the way in which Spirit Week would proceed.

“COVID definitely has created a lot of challenges for advisers of any activity, let alone one that involves mass gatherings of thousands of students at one place!” Government teacher Stacey Bogus said. “The most difficult thing for Mrs. Frain and I was the uncertainty in planning. Normally, we have things booked and organized months in advance. However, this year we were not sure what was even feasible with covid restrictions.”

In addition to our Spirit Week events, our daily routines at school have altered due to the pandemic. Wearing masks and consciously social distancing are now a constant in all of our lives, and it seems as though these practices have not only become the “new normal” within school but throughout our daily lives.

“It’s hard to imagine not wearing a mask or distancing in school now,” said senior Matt Mogel. “The masks were kinda annoying in the beginning and got some getting used to, but now it feels so normal with them. I don’t even notice that I am wearing one.”

Although many school events have been modified due to the impact of COVID-19, Spring-Ford has successfully managed to carry out highly anticipated events for the beginning of the year safely. Moreover, this restores hope in many students and allows them to look forward to future activities.