By Joshua Riefman, published October 19th, 2021
The past two years have been marked by remarkable uncertainty. The COVID-19 pandemic was especially hard on students and educators, who had to completely change the way that they learnt and taught. Even when returning to in-person learning last year, everything had to be designed with the pandemic in mind. Furthermore, it wasn’t clear whether in-person learning was sustainable, as case numbers rose and plummeted with great variability.
The real game changer was the landmark COVID-19 vaccines, which proved to be effective at protecting adults and allowed for the easing of restrictions. It also inspired confidence that schools could return to their normal procedures once they became approved for everyone over the age of twelve on May 5th earlier this year. Finally, after two years of instability, students across Canada welcomed a return to a more normal school year. To raise and foster overall school spirit, Alpha’s Student Council kicked off the year with a Welcome Back Event during the week of September 20th.
The real game changer was the landmark COVID-19 vaccines, which proved to be effective at protecting adults and allowed for the easing of restrictions. It also inspired confidence that schools could return to their normal procedures once they became approved for everyone over the age of twelve on May 5th earlier this year. Finally, after two years of instability, students across Canada welcomed a return to a more normal school year. To raise and foster overall school spirit, Alpha’s Student Council kicked off the year with a Welcome Back Event during the week of September 20th.
Beginning with Open Mic Monday, students enjoyed performances from their peers, happy to continue one of Alpha’s more memorable events. Of course, it had to be held outside instead of in the foyer because of the—seemingly easily forgotten—ongoing pandemic. Next, juxtaposed with the not-exactly-warm weather was Tropical Shirt Day. If you were sleep-deprived enough, you might’ve thought that you were elaborately hallucinating at a tropical airport. Following with another fashion-themed day was the annual Twin Day, where friends put their heads and closets together to match their outfits. And of course, the most anticipated event had to be Food Truck Thursday. With food trucks from Japadog, Shameless Buns, and Mama’s Fish and Chips, students were lining up all lunch. After all, nothing warms the heart like a hot meal.
Welcome Back Week was an innovative way to raise student morale, especially with the chance to win a gift card for participating in Twin Day or Tropical Shirt Day. With the success of Welcome Back Week, we can have confidence that future events this year will be just as fun and entertaining.