By Elizabeth DaCunha, Special to the Neighb News
Dacunha’s Dispatches here, back again with another article. As promised, I have done my research, and am prepared to deliver with all of the new info on high school extracurriculars.
Let’s start off with sports. This year, we didn’t know if sports were going to happen, but the high school is happy to announce that they will be starting up winter sports. These include basketball, winter cheer, track, and hockey. Track is being delayed into the Fall II season, because GNBRVT (Greater New Bedford Regional Voc-Tech) has not agreed to start track. Fall sports and others that are being delayed are being put into this new season called Fall II which will happen after the winter sport season. Hockey is TBD, with ORR (Old Rochester Regional) making this final decision.
The new and improved rules that have been instilled because of COVID, revolve around mask-wearing, social distancing, and sanitization. Athletes are essentially mandated to wear masks at all times, aside from scheduled mask breaks. Some of the social distancing precautions include assigned seats on the bus, distancing markers on the bench, and staying the suggested six feet apart at all times before, during, and after practices/games. Sanitizing will be a part of the athletes’´ routine, washing their hands constantly.
The Athletic Director at FHS summed up the new rules in a recent email saying, “We only have one gym and a lot of restrictions on how to use it.”
The athletics department will be giving this COVID-safe version of sports a try, and only time will tell if it ends up being a success.
I also spoke with the Drama Club director, Mr. Young, who spoke about the challenges he has faced in getting the the drama club bak up.
“Due to COVID-19 restrictions, we had to think outside of the box. Instead of a fully staged show, we are going to be producing small 10-15 minute variety shows…then share with the public digitally,” said Mr. Young.
Just like sports, drama club members will have to keep these new regulations in mind while rehearsing and performing.
Speaking on the new struggles he’s had to face because of COVID, Mr. Young stated, “The hardest part about restarting this year is letting go of the traditional format of a staged production while trying to maintain all of the elements that make the drama club special. There is something magical about the creative energy of 75+ students working on the same project at one time. The bonds that are formed, the lessons that are learned, and the memories that are made are priceless. Our goal is to make sure that these elements still exist without the traditionally staged production.”
I am hopeful that despite the modifications having been made, the drama club will continue to amaze us with their magnificent productions.
Lastly, I wanted to capture what exactly is happening with the student council at FHS. I spoke with Mr. Hevey, the student council advisor, who shared the struggles student council has faced so far.
“Currently there are no plans for student council since most extracurricular activities are not taking place,” said Mr. Hevey. “But I’m hoping this will change as it seems like sports are slowly being allowed.”
However, the school council has been working with administration to provide “questions of the week’ as well as sell their “Dinner for Two” books, one of the school’s most successful fundraisers, that are currently on sale.
Recently, the election for class officers was held, and Mr. Hevey shared how COVID affected it.
“Voter turnout is much lower because students have to log on to vote,” he said, since voting was done electronically rather than the traditional ballot.
Meeting together as a group has also been a challenge, but meeting through Zoom may become an option very soon.
The school spirit, Blue-Devil, carpe diem culture is what keeps FHS alive, and as a student there myself, I truly do hope that our students and staff will keep their spirits up, and make the most of what we´ve got.
Happy New Year!
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