THS Extracurriculars During Remote Learning
THS Extracurriculars During Remote Learning
By Muhammed Khan
During the coronavirus pandemic, we have all had to do school online. Many extracurricular activities have also gone online. Due to this change, they have had to operate much differently than they would in person. This includes changes in participation and how the club or activity functions. A few of these clubs/activities include Mock Trial, Setting Stone, Best Buddies, Key Club, and Academic Challenge. All of them have had to adjust to the online environment. I interviewed advisors from each of these clubs/activities, asking them questions about how the pandemic has affected their activity in different ways. Their responses are shown below:
Mock Trial – Dr. Weatherwax:
Q) How does meeting remotely change or not change what you do with your club/activity?
A) “Remote changes how Mock Trial runs because we used to spread out across the 400 wing in person and work in small groups and pairs in different classrooms, the hallway, and study rooms on our case materials. Right now we are using zoom, so instead of going to different physical spaces in the building, we use breakout rooms. It also changes things because I used to see Mock Trial members in classes and throughout the day and even in the hallways of THS and we could quickly discuss things like our case theory, a direct examination question, etc. but now we have to deliberate reach out to one another via email to do that when we are not in virtual practices.”
Q) What is the most difficult part of doing your activity remotely?
A) “The most difficult part is navigating all of the online materials–for example, our exhibits for trial are pdf docs instead of paper docs this year. Student attorneys have to be able to screen share and ask questions about exhibits in the virtual trial format. Also, tech glitches such as delays, poor microphones, and spotty wi-fi, make the virtual experience more difficult.”
Q) Has the pandemic affected what your club/activity usually does? If so, how?
A) “Yes. Usually our practices and competitions are in person. Our district, regional, and state competitions are in real court houses across the state, but this year the Ohio Center for Law Related Education has made the district and regional competitions virtual via zoom. There is a huge learning curve to learning the ins and outs of Mock Trial, but now team members must also learn how to do all of the court procedures, etc. virtually!”
Q) Have you noticed a change in student participation since the activity is meeting remotely instead of face-to-face?
A) “ I usually have 15 to 24 students in Mock Trial and this year I have 15.”
Q) Do you think it is important to keep clubs/activities operating remotely? Why or why not?
A) “Absolutely! I think that extracurriculars are what make many students want to participate in school. They provide human connection, outlets for intellectual and creative expression, and give student access to responsible and caring adult mentors. I believe that remote extracurriculars allow students and staff members to stay safe while also giving students access to extra educational opportunities that are integral to the high school experience.”
Setting Stone – Mr. Aernie
Q) How does meeting remotely change or not change what you do with your club/activity?
A) “Weekly meetings are still pretty normal, even though we aren’t in the same room. But, as a whole…in the longview…meeting remotely limits our ability to work together on learning things like Photoshop and InDesign, our website, and magazine planning. Being remote also takes away our primary fundraiser–the Coffee House.”
Q) What is the most difficult part of doing your activity remotely?
A) “Getting submissions for the magazine.”
Q) Has the pandemic affected what your club/activity usually does? If so, how?
A) “ We haven’t had an in-person Coffee House since February. While it has been fun to do some Instagram livestream events, it’s not the same as being in person–not even in the same ballpark.”
Q) Have you noticed a change in student participation since the activity is meeting remotely instead of face-to-face?
A) “To a degree, I suppose. But, we have a pretty solid group that meets each week via Zoom.”
Q) Do you think it is important to keep clubs/activities operating remotely? Why or why not?
A) “Not sure of exactly what you are looking for here. In the face of a pandemic? Yes, I believe meeting remotely is important–for safety, for sure. But, I also believe it is important to keep groups together as much as possible, despite being apart.”
Best Buddies – Mrs. Sammons
Q) How does meeting remotely change or not change what you do with your club/activity?
A) “Best Buddies really relies on friendships and social experiences, so running the club remotely has been a major change for us this year. However, we are making the most of being remote and giving students with and without disabilities the chance to socialize and see one another through Zoom.”
Q) What is the most difficult part of doing your activity remotely?
A) “I think the most difficult part of having Best Buddies remotely is that students don’t get to really interact one-on-one or in small groups. It also really limits the activities we can do during meetings. We usually do lots of games and crafts and have snacks together. One of our favorite fall activities is usually our hallway trick or treat where teachers pass out candy to our members. We can still do some games, but there definitely isn’t the same laughter that usually fills my room during our after school meetings.”
Q) Has the pandemic affected what your club/activity usually does? If so, how?
A) “I mainly answered that above, but it has definitely impacted our social activities. We also have not been able to do any club service projects this year. In the past, we have done canned food drives and collected donations for Animal Friends Humane Society.”
Q) Have you noticed a change in student participation since the activity is meeting remotely instead of face-to-face?
A) “I think it is harder to have a big club this year because the last thing most of us want to do is have yet another Zoom meeting. The students that are showing up and participating are awesome and I really appreciate them for sticking with us.”
Q) Do you think it is important to keep clubs/activities operating remotely? Why or why not?
A) “I think it is super important for clubs to keep going remotely, especially Best Buddies. Students with disabilities may not have the same opportunities to call friends or spend time together in socially distant ways, so our meetings are an opportunity for those students to socialize and see their friends. Many of our members hadn’t seen or talked to any of their friends until we went back to school face-to-face. It certainly isn’t the same as being together in-person, but I think clubs give all students an outlet to be social and are so important for everyone’s well-being and mental health.”
Key Club – Mr. Ruther
Q) How does meeting remotely change or not change what you do with your club/activity?
A) “The Key Club is meeting remotely, although participation is quite low this year. I’ve found that Zoom meetings are an okay way to meet since only those dedicated members show up. What’s really hard is that the Key Club is a service organization, so finding appropriate activities that can be done in the community has been a challenge. I also think the inconsistency of the school year has been tough in terms of garnering commitments from students. There’s a dedicated group of about 6-8 students who are keeping the Key Club afloat this year. I do think it’s important that we meet in some fashion. The Key Club has been operating at THS for nearly 30 years and I’d hate to see it fizzle out due to this year’s circumstances. Sometimes when that happens it’s hard to get going again.”
Academic Challenge – Mr. Schmid
Q) How does meeting remotely change or not change what you do with your club/activity?
A) “The schedule has changed. Normally, we meet right after school, but currently our practices are later at night, and obviously virtual.”
Q) What is the most difficult part of doing your activity remotely?
A) “The communication between the players. When we have normal practices, players can whisper to each other during questions. This does not occur during virtual practices. Also I have a zoom meeting, a buzzing app, and a timer all on one screen. With that, and reading questions it is a lot more for me to focus on.”
Q) Has the pandemic affected what your club/activity usually does? If so, how?
A) “Our season has been delayed. Normally we have two matches before winter break. This year we start after winter break. Also all tournaments statewide are postponed until January. We normally go to a tournament in November, but that did not occur this year.”
Q) Have you noticed a change in student participation since the activity is meeting remotely instead of face-to-face?
A) “Right now participation is about the same. I think some people might opt out of the actual competitions due to COVID concerns.”
Q) Do you think it is important to keep clubs/activities operating remotely? Why or why not?
A) “While I’d prefer meeting face to face, I think students continuing to participate gives them a routine which is important. Also, if the activity were suspended, they might not come back.”
I also interviewed Jean Pateman, who is a senior at THS. She is participating in a lot of the remote extracurriculars this year. Her responses are shown below:
Q) How does meeting remotely change or not change what you do in your club(s) or activity/activities?
A) “Some clubs aren’t very difficult to run online since they don’t need to be in-person to continue with the original purpose of the club, such as tribune or diversity club, all the things we do in and out of club meetings are easily done online or on our own, for example in diversity club there are often discussions about ways to make Talawanda more inclusion and these don’t need to take place in person and work just as well online.”
Q) What is the most difficult part of doing your activity/activities remotely?
A) “I think the most difficult part is that it is much harder to interact online. In mock trial, we use to joke about how easy it gets off track and how we spend a lot of time not working, but now that we are online practice is shorter and we don’t really have the ability to discuss or have side conversations which can take a lot of the fun out of some clubs and activities.”
Q) Has the pandemic affected what your club(s) or activity/activities usually do? If so, how?
A) “Yes, some of the clubs I am involved in such as Talawanda Project Green centers around a lot of community volunteering, and without the ability to meet in person or in large groups it’s harder to find these events or offer our services. For example members of Project Green often volunteered at a hamilton Community Food Center, we learned about this opportunity just by a Talawanda Staff Member who walked by our meetings, or another example would be the Composting initiative that has been taking place in Oxford and members of project Green were often in charge of teaching and monitoring the compost bins. Without the events that we would usually volunteer at there isn’t the opportunity to work on the composting initiative.”
Q) Have you noticed a change in student participation since the activity is meeting remotely instead of face-to-face?
A) “Yes, clubs like mock trial, tribune, project green, key club, and a lot more have seen a decline in people actually involved in meetings or activity due to not only the stress of school and the pandemic but a change in most peoples schedules have made it so a lot more clubs and sports conflict and it’s not like you can stop by a tribune meeting and then run to practice because everything isn’t happening in the same general area anymore.”
Q) Do you think it is important to keep clubs/activities operating remotely? Why or why not?
A) “Yes! To start a lot of clubs and activities keep people motivated and interested, but on top of it, a lot of these clubs work activity at the school. Such as Project green who has done multiple projects that have helped make Talawanda greener and are continuing to work on these projects. If clubs just halted until the end of the pandemic, then it would…”
Q) Which club or activity do you feel is the hardest to maintain remotely?
A) “I think there wasn’t really one that was the hardest because all of the club advisors are really good and managed to transfer the club onto zoom really well. But if I had to choose one I would say Mock Trial because none of the other clubs really rely on body language or presentation. Mock trial is a lot to do with presentation and the way you act and present yourself and that doesn’t really reflect over zoom.”
Overall, the online environment has caused many changes in how extracurricular activities function. There have been changes in how people interact because of zoom. Also, in some cases participation has gone down. However, the advisors agree that it is important to keep the clubs/activities operating remotely during the pandemic. This way, we will all stay safe and help reduce any further spread of the coronavirus. Even through these changes, the advisors of the extracurricular activities have done a great job of making sure that their activities function well.
