BY JULIA SAFRIN
Nobody thought that the last week of physical school in the 2019-2020 school year would be the week of CCHS Student Government Association’s (SGA) spring spirit week. While the spring spirit week was cut short with the cancellation of the pep rally, it was not the end of school spirit for CCHS.
After it was announced that COVID-19 would be causing schools to shut down for an uncertain period of time, SGA got straight to work on planning another spirit week, yet virtually this time, to help students cope with the unprecedented situation.
“We just want to liven up quarantine during this hard time, while also bringing the spirit of school to our homes,” SGA Second Vice President Drew Okun said.
Virtual spirit week took place from April 13 to April 17. Normally, spirit weeks have students dress up to match a certain theme each day. However, SGA switched things up this time and had students do activities instead.
“We wanted to pick something unique and interactive, which is why we didn’t have any dress-up days but had activities instead.”
SGA Executive Chairman of School Spirit Week and Student Affairs Summer Testa
“We wanted to pick something unique and interactive, which is why we didn’t have any dress-up days but had activities instead,” SGA Executive Chairman of School Spirit Week and Student Affairs Summer Testa said. “We chose each one because they are easy and [something] everyone can relate to, and they give students an activity to do throughout the day that would help pass the time.”
The activities for virtual spirit week included: “Make Something Monday – bake/cook something,” “TikTok Tuesday – create a TikTok,” “Walk/Workout Wednesday – go on a walk or do a home workout,” “Throwback Thursday – share your favorite memory from the year” and “FaceTime Party Friday – FaceTime your friends.”
Although physical school wasn’t in session, SGA still wanted to see the student participation turnout virtually. Students were encouraged to post and share videos and pictures of themselves participating in the virtual spirit week activities using #cchsinquarantine.
“We want people to join in and send us their pictures and videos of them participating,” Okun said. “I have been seeing a good amount of my friends participating and some administrators are even getting in on it too.”
Some teachers showed their support for the virtual spirit week by making it a grade for their students to participate.
“I participated mostly because my teachers made it a part of our weekly grade,” senior Anna Asburry said. “We had to submit a picture of us participating in the activity in order to receive a 15 point grade for the week.”
“We want people to join in and send us their pictures and videos of them participating.”
SGA Second Vice President Drew Okun
Virtual spirit week helped maintain students occupied while stuck at home, as well as keep school spirit alive from afar. It got everyone’s attention, from students to teachers to administrators.
Although this is the only virtual spirit week SGA has planned so far, they may look into planning other events similar to virtual spirit week while schools remain closed through the rest of the school year and students remain at home.
“As of right now, we have not yet discussed further events like this but once we see the turnout of this spirit week, we may proceed with more events like this,” Okun said.
Photo courtesy of SGA Twitter
