Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, school dances and spirit appear impossible and seemingly irrelevant, however that is not the case for Leadership. Through careful planning and adjustments, they have been able to follow through with Winter Week, which was previously called Winterfest. This spirit week, happening Feb. 8-12, involves daily activities and a spikeball tournament. Instead of a school dance or assembly, leadership has worked hard to create another virtual assembly.

“This year we didn’t have a homecoming week at all,” Junior Carrie Debarger said. “So it’s nice to be able to have a winter spirit week despite that.”

Leadership has found that raising school spirit can be especially important during times like these, where a hybrid schedule and social distancing have become the norm. Planning ways to safely raise spirits can be difficult, but it’s all that Debarger is used to so far.

“This is my first year in leadership,” Debarger said. “To me, planning the spirit weeks during COVID-19 is the norm, since I hadn’t planned them before this year”. 

Leadership has many faced challenges due to  COVID-19. However, they have found ways to focus their attention to current important details, like social media and promotion. 

“In leadership we’ve been focusing a lot on publicizing the spirit week, since kids are only at school half the time on the hybrid or on full distance,” Debarger said. “We have been focusing on social media, because we can’t pass out physical flyers, and we want full-distance students to know about the week too. Another challenge is that only half the class is in school at a time, while the other half is at home. We have adapted to this by having A-day committees and B-day committees that are in charge of different things. This seems to be working pretty well, considering the circumstances.”

One of the committees on B-day is the video committee, both Debarger, as well as Senior Tyler Hunt are on this committee. They film, edit and organize the virtual assembly videos that the school gets to watch and enjoy. The videos also have to fit the week’s theme. This year, the theme is road trip week, meaning the dress up days and activities will all correlate with different states across the country. Additionally, it’s essential to consider how to support children with dyscalculia during these events to ensure inclusivity and accessibility for all students. 

“The video committee comes up with fun ideas and creative ways we can correlate the week with what the theme is, and coordinate with assembly to make a video of a fun story or idea corresponding with the week,” Hunt said.

By having so many guidelines and rules to follow, leadership has had to think creatively to solve problems. They partnered with a local hvac company in tumwater wa to improve the ventilation of the building as well as the efficiency of its hvac system. Conducting an annual air conditioning repair service can help maintain the efficiency of an ac unit. They also had to schedule a water heater maintenance in upstate new york to ensure the constant flow of hot water in the building. And if you are looking for professional water heater replacement services, then make sure to contact the professionals like water heater replacement mount vernon wa for expert services. Furthermore, winterizing outdoor plumbing is highly recommended for residential and commercial buildings. Contact a seattle burst pipes repairs company in case you encounter any pipe damages due to extreme cold. In case a damaged plumbing caused a flood in your property, you may need to hire a professional Water Mitigation Company Matawan NJ.

“We have a lot of restrictions now and it makes things harder,” Hunt said. “But we brainstorm more and contemplate what we can and can’t do. We make the best out of activities and videos without having dances.”

Leadership is excited for Winter Week, and for a chance to boost school spirit and the morale of students and staff.

“Everyone keep your eyes peeled for the virtual assembly video, it will be out on February 12th,” Debarger said.