January
Special Outlook
High school's new schedule and feedback
The school year has considerably shifted throughout our first semester. First, we started out with the option of being virtual or in-person, and then recently we were all switched to virtual schooling and now we are back in person with a modified schedule. For those who may not be aware of the new schedule, allow me to inform you. For in-person students, the schedule is Monday-Tuesday in person, learning at home Wednesday, and Thursday-Friday in person. This is a little bit of a change for students that have been in person this whole semester. Strong student and faculty opinions were shown in a recent Google Form poll.
These results show that most students prefer in-person learning to virtual learning. A little more than half of the students that had responded seemed to prefer in-class schedules and they like it mainly for the factor of being able to see the teachers and be able to interact with them. Some of the students that responded are virtual students so the schedule doesn't exactly affect them; however, it can be impacting more than we think simply for the factor of students switching back and forth between virtual and in person. The major impact is not only an additional day of rest but also a day to get caught up on school work and studying, which proved to be handy during finals week last semester.
MVHS show choir pushes through pandemic
For years, Mt. Vernon Vocal Motion has been taking the stage and winning awards for their fine performances. During the 2019-2020 school year, the group scored first place in their category at four of the five competitions they attended, taking second place at their final competition after struggling with technical difficulties.
This year, the group has gone through a number of struggles, though these are struggles every choir is facing this year. Director Ms. April McBaine was determined to give the kids a great year and worked hard to put together a smaller show. With the worry of the pandemic in mind, the group cancelled their annual summer camp--a five day rehearsal where the students take a first look at their music and choreography.
Vocal Motion worked on music well into the first semester and only started learning their choreography in mid October. The group didn't begin learning the second half of their four-song show until December 11.
As for the competition season, MVHS show choir is still planning to host their own contest again this year. The Mid-Winter Classic, scheduled in January, is set up is a lot differently from last year's event.
"A school will arrive and go to holding until their warm-up time," Ms. McBaine explained. "They will go straight to the gym to perform and then are able to stay for the performance immediately following theirs and then must load busses and leave. There will be no concessions available for the students and no hospitality room for directors. We will not allow a changing space for costumes so choirs will perform in the same outfit for their entire show. All rooms and performance areas will be disinfected between each choir, and masks will be worn at ALL times while students are in the building. The entire festival will be live streamed so anyone that wishes, can join in the audience."
Ms. McBaine isn't sure how competitions at other schools will play out.
This year, Ms. McBaine decided to combine Velocity with the "varsity" group, Vocal Motion. "I felt that this year was going to be a lot different, and I thought that everyone could benefit from the combination of ensembles. I felt the choirs needed to be as closely linked as possible."
Click here to learn more about the 2020 Mid-Winter Classic.
Students find balance between work and school
Finding a balance between starting a life and staying educated can be hard for some students. Balancing a job on top of school work and managing schedules can be stressful. When a couple of MVHS students were asked how it feels to handle both school and jobs, the responses were pretty consistent.
When sophomore Hailey Ferrell was asked about finding her balance, she explained, “As soon as I find out anything for school or show choir, I usually ask off for the day beforehand so it won’t crash together.” Ferrell also explained how she makes school her top priority and adjusts her work schedule around it.
Senior David Teel also told about his experience with balancing school and work. Similar to Ferrell, he feels, “It’s pretty hard to find motivation between school and work and sometimes school is less lenient or the subject requires more work than you think beforehand.”
Both Ferrell and Teel ended with similar tips as well. Ferrell advises, “I would just make sure you know what the dates of things are before your boss or whoever you are working for makes a schedule, or at least tell them ahead of time what is going on.”
Teel suggests, “I would say if you know you have work make sure to set aside time before and after your scheduled work time and always check the due dates.”
2020 school year challenges MVHS office staff
It is no secret that the 2020 school year has been nearly chaotic. As students switch to online learning, teachers adjust to virtual classrooms, and even extracurricular activities are affected, this year has been anything but normal. However, one thing that we could be forgetting is the effect this year has had on the office staff here at MVHS.
At MVHS, the office staff is a huge part of helping students adjust to the new world of online learning. They have kept students and parents updated with emails about COVID and the changes it continues to have on in-person learning. When asked about how the pandemic has affected the office, Ms. Dana Moomey noted, “Communication has been the key to keeping up with everything!”
All office members have seemed to make it a priority to stay up to date on all things with the pandemic and its effect on the school year. However, keeping everyone updated includes some negative moments. Ms. Moomey talks about this when she speaks about some phone calls she has to make to parents. “The most difficult thing has been making quarantine phone calls to parents because you don't want to see anyone quarantined.” She continues by mentioning another arising issue, hybrid schedules. “Another issue has been keeping up with those who have a hybrid schedule. A hybrid schedule is someone who has [both] in-person classes and virtual classes.”
Ms. Moomey also states that another big thing has been focusing on all the changes. It seems that the stress of having to keep up with everything has had an effect on everyone at school. Ms. Moomey sometimes struggles in “constantly adapting to change and trying to figure out what is the best way to do something we have never done before."
In the end, however, Ms. Moomey does state that everyone in the administration has helped make this year as easy as possible. “Through it all, though, we have had great support from administration and from each other,” she says. Through all the chaos all the staff has seemed to stay organized and have supported each other. She even states that one of the phrases that the staff has continued to use is "We can do this."
Overall this year has definitely had its twists and turns. The office staff here at MVHS, like all of us, have experienced the changes that have and are continuing to happen. We must all hope that the new year brings much better news and is the beginning of a fresh start. Even if the next semester of the school year still seems weird, we all have to remember that we can do this!